Easter Island Travel Guide: How to Get There and What to Know Before you Go

I visited Easter Island in April 2024 – and it’s probably the coolest place I’ve been to, and might be the coolest place I will ever get to go to. My job in this post is to convince you (a) it’s worth the trek and (b) once you’re sold, how to get there. I mean, the entire island is literally a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In this post, you’ll find:

1. Introduction to Easter Island
2. Interesting Aviation History
3. What’s Up with the Stone Heads? (Moai Statues)
4. How to Get There For Cheap With Miles (or Cash)
5. Where to Stay
6. You Need a Tour Guide
7. When to Go
8. Language & Currency
9. Food on Easter Island
10. Entry Form

Introduction to Easter Island

Easter Island is a (very) remote island in the middle of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The nearest large body of land is Chile, which is roughly ~2,200 miles away. For context, that’s almost equivalent to the distance between New York City and LA, which is insane.

The next closest inhabited land is the Pitcairn Islands, which are 1,200 miles away. Tahiti (French Polynesia) is 2,600 miles away.

There are two main reasons to visit easter island: (1) Super interesting history (2) Stunning (and remote) natural beauty. Oh and bragging rights, of course.

Easter Island has Polynesian roots, which is crazy because it’s so far away from other Polynesian Islands. Legend has it (per our tour guide) that Easter Island culture originated on an island called Hiva (exact location unknown), from Hotu Matu’a, the founding father of the Rapa Nui people (the indigenous people of Easter Island). No one really knows when it was first settled by the native people, but best estimate right now is 12th century.

In the late 1800s, almost all native Rapa Nui of the island either died or were captured into slavery and shipped to Peru.

In 1888, Chile stepped in and officially annexed Easter Island in a treaty signed with Rapa Nui leaders. However, its validity is disputed by the Rapa Nui people who say they did not understand the full implications of the treaty.

At that time, the local Rapa Nui population dropped as low as ~100 (!) natives due to capture to the Peruvian slave trade, and then smallpox decimated the remaining population when some returned from mainland South America.

Since then, the native population has since recovered, with a large growth of mixed-race Chilean / Spanish / Rapa Nui population ever since the Annexation by Chile.

Today, Easter Island is considered and governed as a province of Valparaiso and has relatively strong cultural and ecological preservation regulations, despite a sometimes tense relationships between the local Rapa Nui people and the Chilean government.

Interesting Aviation History

For avgeeks, Easter Island is super cool for its own reasons.

First thing you’ll notice – the runway is long enough to support widebody aircraft (see 787 above), which at first seems weird because there’s generally only one flight per day to the island.

The runway was actually extended by NASA in the 1980s to allow the Space Shuttle to land there in case of any emergencies during launch. Luckily, it was never used for that purpose, but the byproduct was that the island became much more accessible to large aircraft ever since, for both commercial and tourism purposes.

Another interesting fact is that only one aircraft is allowed to operate to Mataveri International Airport at a time. This is because if a plane gets stuck on the runway, then there’s nowhere another inbound aircraft could divert to because the island is so remote.

Right now, LATAM has a monopoly on the only commercial flights into the island each day, and generally runs 1 to 2 flights per day between Easter Island and Santiago.

What’s Up with the Stone Heads? (Moai Statues)

Easter Island’s most famous feature (maybe because of Night at the Museum…Ben Stiller…no?) are the famous stone heads.

So, who built them and what’s their significance?

The local Rapa Nui people carved them out of stone in the 13th through 15th centuries, although exact dates are debated. They are meant to represent deified ancestors and key members of Rapa Nui society – think of them almost like head-shaped monuments to passed Rapa Nui leaders. They were believe to protect and channel prosperity to the living community on the island.

What’s insane is that these stone heads is that they are often MILES away from the stone from which they are carved (you’ll find them all across the island). During their time of construction, the Rapa Nui people had no advanced motorized technology, so it’s unclear how exactly these statues made it so far while remaining intact (flipping them over / dragging them would have broken them).

The most plausible answer of course: aliens. Kidding. Probably. The leading theory is that they used ropes as kind of a pulley to “walk” the statues on their corners to transport them across the island. Kind of like how you can move your fridge by shifting it side to side, kind of like a penguin waddle. But then again, who knows. Adds to the ~mystique~ of the island.

How to Get There For Cheap With Miles (or Cash)

At this point, you’re probably sold on going – but getting there is the tricky part. To be honest, it’s not that difficult to get there, it just takes awhile from most places unless you’re already in South America.

Note the only way (currently) to get to Easter Island is via Santiago in Chile, where the only airline running routes to Easter Island is LATAM.

There are two strategies to getting here: miles or cash.

Cash is straightforward; I’d just use google flights to map out your cheapest option.

One important thing to note if booking with cash is that it may be cheaper to book two separate flights: (1) one from your home city to Santiago and (2) Santiago to Easter Island.

For example, right now on google flights I see NYC – Easter Island for a random week in March for $1,500. However, NYC – Santiago alone roundtrip I see $500, and Santiago to Easter Island alone roundtrip I see for $300. So by booking the two separate flights for $800, you’d save $700 compared to the combined itinerary.

This would necessitate spending a day or two as a buffer in Santiago, but if booking with cash think of it as basically getting a paid-for layover to explore in Santiago.

The other option is to use miles, or cash + miles. The latter is what I did when going to Easter Island.

There are tons of options of getting to Santiago. I’m based in NYC, so I flew on LATAM which operates daily nonstops between JFK and SCL.

LATAM is partners with British Airways, so I was able to book an economy roundtrip flight for two people for 103,000 British Airways avios + $200 in total taxes and fees (51,500 points per person roundtrip + $100).

While not the most aspirational redemption, this flight usually goes for $800-$1000 in cash, so my redemption was in the ~$1.50-$1.60 cents per point range, which is decent. But I’d definitely compare vs. using cash when booking a flight to Santiago.

In terms of Santiago to Easter Island, fares range widely but sale fares are findable at ~$300 per person roundtrip, but I’d play around on google flights to find the best dates.

Where to Stay

There aren’t any chain hotels on the island – there are strict real estate ownership rules where generally only local Rapa Nui people can own real estate. Majority of options will be bed & breakfast type of options. I’d recommend just using google or booking.com to find a place that has good reviews and fits your budget. Lodging is not cheap on the island.

Budget housing (guest house / hostel type) can be found from $75 per night, mid range around $150-$250 per night, and then there are a few “Luxury” ins on the island for $500+ per night. I stuck around the mid range level and stayed at the Inaki Uhi hotel, which I’d highly recommend for anyone visiting for the first time.

You Need a Tour Guide

This is is a statement, not a recommendation. Unfortunately post-COVID, a new mandate for tourists is that you cannot explore Easter Island on your own. Specifically, you cannot enter the key historical sites with the Moai on your own (you can explore some parts of the island without, but generally for most key sites you can’t). It’s required to have a guide, most of whom have some indigenous Rapa Nui background. If you’re staying at a well-trafficked B&B or hotel, it’s most likely they can help arrange a tour for you, but I’d reach out ahead of time to confirm. There are also many options available online for private and group tours.

I ended up booking a 2 day tour through our hotel. It’s not cheap – roughly $100 per person per day, but hey – how often am I in Easter Island?

There are a few places on the Island you’re able to explore without a guide (i.e Anakena beach), but for the most part you need a guide for any of the cool sites or hikes. Note there are guard stations at all major attractions, so trying to slip by is not possible (yes, I thought about doing this).

It’s possible to rent cars in the downtown – I did this one day just to drive across the island which was a ton of fun. I’d highly recommend doing this for a day; I drove to the local brewery (Mahina) and then hung out at Anakena beach for the day. It’s also really cool driving around such a beautiful and isolated place. I just booked the car day of by walking in to a car rental place on the main downtown strip – an automatic compact car was $90 for the day.

When to Go

Weather is fairly mild and pleasant year round on Easter Island, although if making the trek all the way out it’s worth making sure you’re on the best days possible.

October through April is generally the best time to visit – temperatures range from 20C – 28C (68F – 82F) during this time, with not as much rain.

Peak season is December to March (summer in South America), when temperatures are the warmest but also prices the highest and island the busiest.

Winter months can be cooler and wetter with temperatures around 15C – 22C (59F to 72F) and with more rain, but can still be worth going during this time to dodge the crowds and high prices, at the expense of the best possible weather.

Language & Currency

Spanish is the main language on the island. I don’t speak Spanish, but I made it by just fine on English. In the downtown / tourist areas, signage / menus all have some English and a lot of people speak at least a little, so I never had any issues here.

The Chilean Peso is used on Easter Island. Cards are generally accepted everywhere, but would definitely bring cash with you from Santiago. There is only one place (yes, one) with an ATM on the entire island.

Food on Easter Island

Food was actually an unexpected highlight of the trip. If you like seafood, this is probably one of the best places in the world to get super fresh fish (Tuna, specifically).

I was expecting not-so-great food for insane prices, but all meals I had were actually very reasonably priced ($15-$20 USD per person for food only for a sit down meal) and delicious.

My #1 recommendation is Oheho Surf Cafe. The food here is cheap and delicious (pictured above), and it’s directly on the waterfront. After your meal you can walk 20 feet to the water and go turtle spotting.

Entry Form

Getting to Easter Island (outside of the distance) is relatively uncomplicated. You have to fill out a quick form (see HERE) ahead of time to be permitted to enter the island. Don’t forget to do this as you won’t be able to board your flight to Santiago unless you have filled this out. Otherwise, once the form is filled and you get your QR code to enter, you’re good to go!