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Chile
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Valparaiso Region
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Easter Island
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Hanga Roa
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Tours & Activities
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Easter Island Full-Day Tour: Ahu Tongariki, Rano Raraku and Anakena Beach
1 day
Full Day
Instant confirmation
About this activity
On your sightseeing adventure, you'll come across moai, stone giants that on average stand 13 feet (4 meters) tall and weigh 14 tons (13 metric tons). Said to represent ancestral spirits or preeminent tribal figures, some moai are placed upon
ahu, or ceremonial sites.
After hotel pickup, your guide takes you to Ahu Akahanga, located on the southeastern coast of the island. Unlike most ahu, Akahanga has not been restored, allowing you to stumble upon the area as European explorers first did. The platform, about 59 feet (18 meters) long, originally contained about a dozen moai and is believed to be the burial site of Polynesian king Hoto Matu’a.
Walk about the grounds sprawled with overturned moai that have
pukao, decorative head topknots, with tribal fighting providing one explanation for this curious scene.
Next, head north up the coastline to Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial site with an impressive row of 15 upright moai. Learn how a tsunami in 1960 sent these statues, some weighing 30 tons (27 metric tons), flying several hundred feet inland. Restoration of this site took five years and was completed in 1992.
Then travel inland to Rano Raraku, where on its volcanic slopes Rapa Nui sculptors had carved moai from volcanic stone before moving about one third of them to various ahu. Many of the island’s 800-plus moai remain in the quarry and close by; as you trek with your guide toward the stone pit, you’ll see poking up from the grassy earth hundreds of moai heads or partially buried torsos.
Enjoy a barbecue lunch (provided) at a nearby camping area, which includes chicken and other meats, fish, salad, rice, fruit and water. A vegetarian option can be arranged upon request. You’ll spend about 2.5 hours in total at Rano Raraku with lunch time.
Along the northern coast, reach your final stop at Anakena and explore the extremely well-preserved seven moai of Ahu Nau Nau, four of them wearing pukao. At this site, archaeologists located one nearly complete coral eye, inlaid with red volcanic scoria stone.
Your sightseeing complete, swim or stroll along Anakena, one of the few white sand beaches on the island, for about 30 minutes before being transported back to your hotel. Or feel free to stay longer, and your guide will arrange a cab ride for you (own expense) when you’re ready to return to your accommodation. Changing rooms with showers are available on site for a small fee.
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ahu, or ceremonial sites.
After hotel pickup, your guide takes you to Ahu Akahanga, located on the southeastern coast of the island. Unlike most ahu, Akahanga has not been restored, allowing you to stumble upon the area as European explorers first did. The platform, about 59 feet (18 meters) long, originally contained about a dozen moai and is believed to be the burial site of Polynesian king Hoto Matu’a.
Walk about the grounds sprawled with overturned moai that have
pukao, decorative head topknots, with tribal fighting providing one explanation for this curious scene.
Next, head north up the coastline to Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial site with an impressive row of 15 upright moai. Learn how a tsunami in 1960 sent these statues, some weighing 30 tons (27 metric tons), flying several hundred feet inland. Restoration of this site took five years and was completed in 1992.
Then travel inland to Rano Raraku, where on its volcanic slopes Rapa Nui sculptors had carved moai from volcanic stone before moving about one third of them to various ahu. Many of the island’s 800-plus moai remain in the quarry and close by; as you trek with your guide toward the stone pit, you’ll see poking up from the grassy earth hundreds of moai heads or partially buried torsos.
Enjoy a barbecue lunch (provided) at a nearby camping area, which includes chicken and other meats, fish, salad, rice, fruit and water. A vegetarian option can be arranged upon request. You’ll spend about 2.5 hours in total at Rano Raraku with lunch time.
Along the northern coast, reach your final stop at Anakena and explore the extremely well-preserved seven moai of Ahu Nau Nau, four of them wearing pukao. At this site, archaeologists located one nearly complete coral eye, inlaid with red volcanic scoria stone.
Your sightseeing complete, swim or stroll along Anakena, one of the few white sand beaches on the island, for about 30 minutes before being transported back to your hotel. Or feel free to stay longer, and your guide will arrange a cab ride for you (own expense) when you’re ready to return to your accommodation. Changing rooms with showers are available on site for a small fee.
Included
- Professional guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Transport by air-conditioned van
- BBQ lunch
Not included
- Gratuities
- Entrance fee to Rapa Nui National Park (56,000 Chilean pesos or U$80 dollars)
- Entrance fee to the Moai sites
- Transfers from the pier (Please note that there's an special option for this case called Shore Excursion)
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- It is recommended that you wear a bathing suit and bring a towel, sunglasses and sunscreen
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Note: Port pickup is not available
- Remember that this excursion isn't a private tour
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
55%
Reviews
If you have very limited time on the island and are really only interested in going to X site and taking pictures before moving on to the next site, then this is a great tour. The tour visits some amazing places and there is time to take pictures but that's about it. The tour is very perfunctory, with the guide/driver requiring everyone to stand in specific places while he recited the required information before moving on to the next spot. It was clearly all from a script - when I asked a question about a site that we passed that we were not visiting, I was told that it wasn't relevant for the tour. There is no time to really explore most of the sites that are visited and a lot of time is wasted trotting behind the guide as he walked to the next lecture point. The lunch was OK but definitely not worth the increased costs. And given that it was winter, stopping at the beach for almost 2 hours was a big waste of time, especially since we had just had lunch and so you couldn't even use up time by having lunch. Not worth the price and there are better tours out there - look up Easter Island Tours instead.
WORST TOUR GUIDE EVER. And believe me when I tell you that I have been on tours all over the world and this guide was the worst. I would like to tell you what the guides name was but he never told us. He walked into the hotel lobby and said, Do you have your park pass? He told us absolutely nothing for 8 hours. I could overhear other guides giving amazing information and history and my husband and I felt very cheated that we had this guide through Aku Aku Tourismo. He was NOT a guide. He was a minder....someone who kept us on a timeline. When we went to Anakena Beach he let us off the bus and did not say ONE THING about what we would see. It was basically like that the entire day. He walked ahead of the group the entire day, trying to hurry us through. When he would utter something it was with no enthusiasm and seemingly annoyance that he had to be with us for the day. He sat on the bus quietly as we passed incredible sights that he told us nothing about. Such a disappointment. Luckily we took another tour the next day that had some crossover so that I learned about the history of the island, Rapa Nui, and Moai.
This was one of the best tour I have done. Very well organaised, very informative with very friendly group. Guide was great and answered all questions any pf us asked about Rapa Nui people and their history.!!! Ljiljana
I had great hopes for this tour with a driver and a local Rapa Nui guide. It turned out to be minimal information/photo stops. The tour was conducted in Spanish and English. When the Spanish speaking folks asked a question, they got a lengthy answer which was never translated for the English speaking folks. The stop at the beach and the lunch were great. This was a third day tour for me so I knew we weren't getting a lot of information. It is a nice tour if you have only one day to see the highlights.
Excellent tour. Highlight of our visit to Easter Island.
This tour was a great way to experience the major sights of the island. Wonderful tour guide and excellent info provided. The quarry was definitely the highlight!