Easter Island
Chile
The most remote inhabited island on earth, and nine hundred statues facing inland
Remote destinations — Five and a half hours out into the Pacific from Santiago, and one flight a week from Tahiti
Photo by Emerson Moretto on Unsplash
Photos by Stephanie Morcinek, Mike Koss, Mike Koss and Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Chile
October to April
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 99mm in May
Where it is
27.11°S, 109.35°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Watch sunrise behind the fifteen moai at Tongariki
- Walk the quarry at Rano Raraku, where the unfinished statues are still in the rock
- Stand on the rim of Rano Kau and see Orongo
- Swim at Anakena, the island’s one proper beach
- Ride a horse across the north coast, where there are no roads
- Buy the national park ticket online before you arrive — it is $80 and valid for ten days
Easter Island travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Chile
Very expensiveEverything on the island is shipped or flown 3,700km, and the prices say so — budget roughly double mainland Chile. Bring pesos from Santiago; the island has one or two exchange points at poor rates. Cards work in the bigger restaurants and tour agencies, and fail often enough that cash matters.
ATMs & cards
Two or three machines in Hanga Roa, all of which run dry at weekends and in high season. Draw pesos on the mainland before you fly and bring more than you plan to spend — there is no way to fix a shortfall out here.
Avoid these
- arriving without enough cash — the two or three machines run dry in high season
Use these instead
- Banco Estado and Santander in Hanga Roa, if they are working
Draw pesos in Santiago before you fly. Prices are roughly double the mainland because everything arrives by plane or ship.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Chile
Very safeOne of the safest places anyone can travel: a community of 8,000 where everyone knows everyone. The rules that matter are about the site rather than about you — never walk on an ahu platform, never touch a moai, stay on the marked paths, and be aware that these are graves and sacred ground rather than sculptures. Fines are substantial and enforcement is serious. The sea is powerful and there are no lifeguards.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Hanga Roa
- Rapa Nui National Park — the marked sites
Worth more attention
- Touching or climbing on a moai, which is a serious offence and has resulted in prison
- The coast at Ovahe and the north shore, which has no rescue at all
- Riding a scooter on the unpaved roads, which is how the island’s clinic fills
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Chile visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Nothing in advance. Keep the tourist card you are given on entry — you need it to leave, and to avoid paying local VAT at hotels.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Chile
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid for longer or rural stays
Getting treated
The best in South America alongside Uruguay. Private clinics in Santiago and Punta Arenas are excellent and expect insurance or payment up front; public hospitals treat emergencies. In Torres del Paine you are hours from either, and CONAF rescue is the only help there is.
Tap water is safe in the cities. In Patagonia the risks are exposure and wind rather than anything infectious — hypothermia happens in January.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodFish, and it is superb — tuna, mahi-mahi and kana kana, often served ceviche-style. Umu, food cooked in an earth oven, is the traditional meal and worth arranging once. Everything else on the menu came off a plane, and the bill will show it.
Nightlife
Two or three bars in Hanga Roa and a Polynesian dance show, on an island where the sky is the evening entertainment.
- Hanga Roa — the only town, and its handful of bars
- Caleta Hanga Roa — the harbour, and sunset over the moai
- Tahai — where everybody walks for sunset
Closing: 02:00 at the weekend, much earlier midweek.
There is no light pollution and the southern sky here is extraordinary — which is the better reason to be outside after dark.
Getting around
Workable- BoltNot here
No ride-hailing. A hire car, a quad or a bicycle for the day, and taxis on the island run a flat rate within Hanga Roa.
Time zone and your working day
Pacific/Easter — 1 hour behind you
7 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 10:00–17:00 your time, 09:00–16:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 10:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 10:00–18:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Getting online
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Chile, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Rapa Nui
- Hello / goodbyeIoranayo-RAH-na
- Thank youMaururuma-oo-ROO-roo
- How are you?Pehé koe?peh-HEH ko-eh
- Good / wellRiva rivaREE-va REE-va
4 more phrases
- Yes / NoÊ / Inaeh / EE-na
- StatueMoaiMO-eye
- Ceremonial platformAhuAH-hoo
- See you laterKa oraka OH-ra
Spanish is the working language and everyone speaks it, but Rapa Nui is Polynesian and closer to Tahitian and Maori than to anything on the mainland — and using it marks you as someone who noticed that this is not simply a piece of Chile. Iorana is said constantly, to everyone, all day.
Religion
Catholic, and increasingly secular
Historically Catholic, with religiosity falling sharply among younger Chileans.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet with one kiss on the right cheek between women, or a woman and a man; men shake hands
- Say buenos días on entering a shop and gracias on leaving, every time
- Accept the once — the late-afternoon tea and bread — if offered; refusing reads as cold
- In Patagonia, close every gate behind you; the estancias run sheep and the gates matter
Don't
- Do not assume Chilean Spanish will sound like the Spanish you learned — it is fast, clipped and full of local slang
- Do not bring up Pinochet casually; it divides families and is not small talk
- Do not eat anything with your hands at a table, including pizza and chips — Chileans use cutlery for almost everything
- Do not turn up on time to a private dinner invitation; fifteen to thirty minutes late is expected
Where to stay in Easter Island
No Holistay rentals in Easter Island yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Easter Island on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Mataveri IPC
5 minfrom the airport· 9 km as the crow flies
Five and a half hours from Santiago, on the only route there is.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
