Rapa Nui Culture and Moai Sites Full-Day Tour Easter Island

Vaihu and Ahu Akahanga on the south coast

The tour leaves Hanga Roa along the south coast road, where the first stops are the ceremonial sites of Vaihu, also known as Ahu Hanga Te'e, and Ahu Akahanga. Here the moai lie face down in front of their platforms exactly as they fell during the island's conflicts of the 17th and 18th centuries, with their red scoria topknots scattered nearby. The restored sites come later; these show Rapa Nui as the first European visitors found it.

Your native guide walks you through the remains of a traditional village behind the platforms: boat-shaped house foundations, earth ovens and chicken houses built of stone. Akahanga is also traditionally linked to the burial of the island's founding king, and the guide explains how the ahu served as both temple and tomb. Together the two stops take about 1.5 hours and give the day its historical foundation.

Rano Raraku, the moai quarry

Rano Raraku is the single most important site on Easter Island and the highlight of any Rapa Nui tour: the volcanic crater whose soft tuff was carved into almost every moai on the island. Nearly 400 statues remain here in every stage of production, from faint outlines in the rock face to finished giants standing shoulder-deep in the grass of the outer slope, including the largest ever attempted, over 20 metres long and still attached to the bedrock.

A walking trail leads along the slope between the statues, and your guide explains how the carvers worked with stone tools, how the moai were lowered down the hill and how they may have been moved across the island. Allow about an hour. The crater lake inside is fringed with reeds and is a peaceful contrast to the busy outer slope. Sun protection matters here, as there is little shade.

Ahu Tongariki

A short drive from the quarry, Ahu Tongariki is the largest ceremonial platform on Easter Island: fifteen moai standing in a row on a 200-metre ahu, with the ocean behind and the Poike peninsula in the distance. The statues were toppled centuries ago and then swept inland by a tsunami in 1960; the platform was rebuilt in the 1990s, and the sight of the fifteen giants back in place is the image most people carry away from Rapa Nui.

One moai wears a topknot, and a single travelling statue, once sent abroad for an exhibition, stands apart near the entrance. Your guide points out the differences in height, style and condition that show how the statues were made at different times. Tongariki is also the island's sunrise site; on this tour you see it in full daylight, which suits photography of the carving details and the setting.

Ahu Te Pito Kura and the magnetic stone

On the north coast, Ahu Te Pito Kura holds the largest moai ever successfully moved from the quarry and raised on a platform: Paro, almost 10 metres tall and around 80 tonnes, now lying face down where it fell, its topknot beside it. Nearby sits the smooth round stone that gives the site its name, Te Pito Kura, the navel of light, which is said to concentrate mana, the spiritual energy of the island, and to deflect a compass needle.

The guide explains the legend that the island's first king brought the stone with him from the ancestral homeland, and why visitors place their hands on it. It is a quick but memorable 45-minute stop with wide views along the coast, and it leads directly to Anakena, the final stop of the day.

Anakena beach and Ahu Nau Nau

The tour ends at Anakena, the island's most beautiful beach: a curve of fine white coral sand and turquoise water shaded by coconut palms, on the north coast about 20 km from Hanga Roa. According to tradition this is where the first Polynesian settlers landed. On the grass just behind the beach stand the moai of Ahu Nau Nau, some of the best-preserved statues on the island, with topknots and finely carved backs.

You have about 1.5 hours of free time here to swim, rest under the palms or photograph the statues; there are small stands selling local food and drinks, as lunch is not included in the tour. Water temperatures are pleasant most of the year. From Anakena the vehicle returns you to your hotel in Hanga Roa, completing a day that answers the question of whether Easter Island is worth visiting beyond doubt.