Twelve Tips for Visiting Easter Island
Easter Island is one of the world’s greatest bucket list destinations. To get the most of this once in a lifetime visit, I recommend the following tips
- Pack good walking shoes
Good walking shoes are essential. Don’t even try to attempt the paths with a sandal or flip flop. Sandals shift off the foot very easily. Since there are a lot of rocks and pebbles it’s so easy for one to fall or lose one’s footing in a shoe that doesn’t snugly fit one’s foot. I have never seen paths in this poor of condition in all the 100 plus countries I visited.
2. European plug
To charge your electronics, you will need the European style two prong plug. Be sure to have one or you will be sorely disappointed. I didn’t even see a place where one could purchase such a plug. That’s not to say they don’t exist, but why waste precious time looking for one?
3. Sunscreen
Due to Easter Island’s close location to the Tropic of Capricorn, you will likely be closer to the sun than at home and it’s intense. You will burn without sunscreen. The summer days are long which affords lots of time for exploring and sun exposure. Just a side note, the island is on the Eastern time zone.
4. Prepare for high prices
As one can imagine, due to the remote location, most goods are imported. We ate one meal a day from the grocery store. Some examples of prices can be found at this link.
5. Water for hikes
Common sense, yet a lot of people still set out on long hikes without water. We found that our cell service did not work outside the town of Hanga Roa. It is very easy to fall as I mentioned in number one above. Twisting an ankle is a very real possibility. Don’t expect that you can just call in for help and it will be there in 30 minutes.
6. Park ticket
Carry your park ticket with you at all times in a safe place. It needs to be presented to enter every site. The ticket can be purchased at the airport upon arrival and can be paid for with a credit card.
7. Bring a DSLR
Many people exclusively use a cell phone for travel photos, however, I highly recommend a DSLR with a zoom lens at the very least. The range of zoom with my cell phone didn’t begin to compare to what I could get with my 50 mm lens. My 350 mm lens was essential. I took two DSLRs and my cell phone. I have to say that I don’t recall a trip in the past where I used both cameras/lenses interchangeably as much as I did on this trip.
8. Book hotel in advance
Approximately 800 people arrive on the island a day. To ensure you have a place to stay, book your hotel as soon as you know you’re going to give yourself the best selection. Going to Easter Island is kind of like taking a step back in time. Most of the hotels are basic. Don’t expect to find a Marriott. We stayed at the Hotel Atavai which we paid $44 per night with two people per room. I booked the rooms just over six months in advance. As our arrival date neared, I noticed the cost of the rooms went up.
9. Rent a car
Although expensive (about $100 a day), we found having a car was invaluable: we were able to drive up to everything in comfort, see everything we wanted to see, have a safe place to lock our things, and we toured in air conditioning. All wheel drive was essential. We rented from Oceanic Rental Car.
10. Get a passport stamp
If you want the moai in your passport, go to the post office in Hanga Roa. They will stamp your passport for free.
11. See the sunrise and sunset
Using Weather.com, we were able to know what time the sun rose and set. We arrived 30 minutes before each and got beautiful shots. The best spot to see the sunset is in Tahai and the best sunrise can be seen at Ahu Tongariki.
12. Download local copy of Google Maps BEFORE you leave home
Navigating the island was simple using Google Maps. We were able to go off the main roads quite a bit and explore the island without getting lost.
~Bella