Hanga Roa: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Almost every moai on the island came out of one hillside, and the question of who made them, and how they reached the coast, drew explorers here for a century. The answer is the Rapa Nui themselves, Polynesians who carved some 900 statues of their deified ancestors and set them on platforms, the ahu, mostly facing inland over the villages. How the statues travelled is still argued: island tradition says they walked by mana, and in 2012 archaeologists made a replica 'walk' upright, rocked from side to side with ropes. This loop runs from the quarry to the coast and back across the middle of the island, about 70 km in a full day, with a licensed guide at the park sites.
A short history of Hanga Roa
Hanga Roa is the only town on Easter Island, and almost all the island's inhabitants live here. On Easter Sunday 1722 the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen reached the island and gave it its name. In 1862 slave traders from Peru kidnapped hundreds of islanders, and as a result of the kidnappings and the diseases brought back by those who returned, the population shrank until only about 110 people remained. In 1888 Chile annexed the island and leased most of it out as a sheep farm; the inhabitants were confined to the area of Hanga Roa and received full civil rights only in 1966. In 1967 the airport opened, and since then tourists have come here to see the moai statues.
The ten best sights in Hanga Roa
1Ahu TahaiThree ahu at the edge of town; the island's classic sunset, five minutes on foot from the centre
2Padre Sebastián Englert MuseumGo before the sites: it explains the ahu, the birdman cult and the rongorongo script
3Holy Cross ChurchWoodcarvings mix saints with Rapa Nui figures; Sunday Mass is sung partly in Rapa Nui
4Pea BeachA rock-sheltered pool in town for a swim, with turtles often feeding just beyond it
5Rano KauA crater with a reed-covered lake; the rim is a short drive up from town
6OrongoThe birdman village on the crater rim; one entry per park ticket, so don't rush it
7Ahu TongarikiFifteen moai in a row; come at sunrise, when the sun comes up behind them
8Rano RarakuThe quarry where the moai were carved, hundreds still on its slopes; one entry per ticket
9AnakenaThe island's white-sand beach, with palms and two ahu right on it; food stalls at lunch
10Ahu AkiviSeven moai inland that look towards the sea, unlike almost all the others
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Hanga Roa →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Hanga Roa:
Free walking tours in Hanga Roa
Who carved the moai
Almost every moai on the island came out of one hillside, and the question of who made them, and how they reached the coast, drew explorers here for a century. The answer is the Rapa Nui themselves, Polynesians who carved some 900 statues of their deified ancestors and set them on platforms, the ahu, mostly facing inland over the villages. How the statues travelled is still argued: island tradition says they walked by mana, and in 2012 archaeologists made a replica 'walk' upright, rocked from side to side with ropes. This loop runs from the quarry to the coast and back across the middle of the island, about 70 km in a full day, with a licensed guide at the park sites.
- Rano Raraku · The crater wall is compressed volcanic ash, soft enough to carve with basalt tools, and nearly all the moai were cut from it. Hundreds are still here, many buried to the neck in eroded soil, and the largest, about 21 metres long, was never cut free from the rock.
- Ahu Tongariki · In 1960 the tsunami from the great Chilean earthquake swept over the platform and threw its toppled statues far inland. Chilean archaeologists put the fifteen moai back up between 1992 and 1996, with a crane donated by the Japanese company Tadano.
- Ahu Te Pito Kura · The moai called Paro, close to 10 metres tall, is the largest ever stood up on an ahu, and it lies here broken where it was pulled down. Next to it is a smooth round stone the islanders call Te Pito o te Henua, the navel of the world.
- Ahu Nau Nau · Sand covered these statues for centuries, so the carving on their backs survived far better than elsewhere. When the ahu was restored in 1978, a white coral eye was found here, proving that the moai once had eyes.
- Ahu Akivi · This was the first ahu on the island to be scientifically restored, in 1960, by William Mulloy and Gonzalo Figueroa. Tradition links its seven moai to the seven scouts sent ahead by the first king, Hotu Matu'a.
- Puna Pau · The cylinders of red scoria that sit on some moai like hats, the pukao, were cut in this small crater and rolled to the coast. Several unfinished ones still lie around the quarry.
The birdman's island
After the age of the moai the island turned to a new cult, of the god Makemake and the Tangata Manu, the birdman, chosen each year in a race for the first egg of the sooty tern. Its centre was a village of stone houses on the rim of the Rano Kau crater, high over three islets. This route starts at the museum in town, follows the cliffs south to the crater and comes back by the ahu behind the airport. Half a day by car, with short walks; the wind on the rim can be strong.
- Padre Sebastián Englert Museum · The museum is named after a German Capuchin priest who lived on the island from 1935 until his death in 1969 and recorded its language and traditions. The rongorongo tablets on show are replicas: the two dozen or so originals left are all in museums abroad, and the script has never been deciphered.
- Ana Kai Tangata · The ceiling of the sea cave is painted in red, white and black with birds, thought to be the terns whose eggs the birdman race was about. The name is usually read as 'the cave where men eat', and some take it to mean men were eaten here.
- Rano Kau · The crater is about a kilometre and a half across, and its lake is covered with floating mats of totora reed. It was one of the island's few sources of fresh water.
- Orongo · Each spring the competitors climbed down the 300-metre cliff, swam to the islet of Motu Nui and waited there for the first tern's egg; the chief whose man brought it back became the sacred birdman for a year. In 1868 sailors of HMS Topaze took the basalt moai Hoa Hakananai'a from one of these houses, and it has been in the British Museum ever since.
- Vinapu · The front wall of one platform is built of huge basalt blocks fitted without mortar, so close that Thor Heyerdahl compared it to Inca walls in Peru. Most archaeologists today see it as a Polynesian technique developed on the island itself.
- Ahu Huri a Urenga · This lone inland moai has an unusual detail: two pairs of hands carved on its body. The platform is turned towards the point where the sun rises at the winter solstice.
Hanga Roa on foot
Hanga Roa is the island's only town, and almost all of its roughly 7,700 people live here. It is one long main street, Atamu Tekena, a harbour, a church and a line of ahu along the shore to the north. This walk goes from the fishing harbour along the sea to Tahai, about two hours on foot with stops. Finish at Tahai for sunset, and bring water: there is little shade.
- Caleta Hanga Roa O'Tai · Green sea turtles, honu in Rapa Nui, come into the harbour to feed, and the fishermen cleaning their catch keep them close. Watch from the quay; touching or feeding them is not allowed.
- Pea Beach · A low wall of rock breaks the waves here, leaving a small calm pool where the town's children learn to swim. Just outside it the surfers wait for the break.
- Feria Hare Umanga · Most of what the island eats comes by plane or ship from the mainland, so this market is where the local part shows: island bananas, sweet potatoes, fish and tuna. Look for po'e, a dense pudding of banana or pumpkin.
- Holy Cross Church · The carvings at the door and inside set the Virgin and the saints among Rapa Nui motifs, including the birdman and Makemake. Sunday morning Mass fills it, and the hymns are sung in Rapa Nui.
- Mercado Artesanal · The toromiro, the island's tree of choice for fine carving, died out in the wild here: the last one was seen in the 1960s. It survived only from seeds collected earlier, which have been grown in gardens abroad and brought back.
- Ahu Tahai · William Mulloy restored this group of three ahu in 1974, and the American archaeologist is buried nearby. On the northern platform stands Ko Te Riku, the only moai on the island with its eyes put back, white coral with dark pupils.
Getting to Hanga Roa and getting around
- Mataveri International Airport · The only way in for most visitors: LATAM flies from Santiago, about five hours over open ocean
- Caleta Hanga Roa O'Tai · The fishing harbour in the middle of town; dive and boat trips leave from here
- Hanga Piko · The small cargo port south of town, where supplies come ashore by barge
Cheap eats in Hanga Roa
Rapa Nui eats tuna: it comes in the empanadas, the ceviche and the sandwiches, caught by the boats you see in the harbour. Almost everything else is flown or shipped 3,500 km from Chile, so prices are well above Santiago's. The cheap and good options are the empanada counters and the cafés along Atamu Tekena, and a picnic from the supermarket for a day at the sites, where food is scarce.
- Tía Berta (Ariki o te Pana) · Big tuna and cheese empanadas, about CLP 5,000-7,000
- Mikafé · Ice cream and coffee on the harbour, a scoop about CLP 3,500
- Club Sandwich · Chilean sandwiches, a churrasco about CLP 9,000-12,000
- Panadería Mana · Bread and pastries for the road, about CLP 1,500-3,000
- Nená's Specialty Coffee · Proper espresso by the harbour, about CLP 3,000-4,500
- Feria Hare Umanga · Fruit, po'e and home cooking at the stalls, a plate about CLP 6,000-9,000
Museums in Hanga Roa
- Padre Sebastián Englert Museum · The island's story in one room; start here, on the first day
- Orongo · Stone houses of the birdman cult over the sea; one entry per ticket
- Holy Cross Church · Rapa Nui carving in a Catholic church; Sunday Mass is the time to come
- Papa Vaka · Rock carvings of canoes, fish and a giant octopus on flat lava
- Ana Kai Tangata · Painted birds on a sea-cave ceiling, ten minutes from town
Nature and day trips near Hanga Roa
- Rano Kau · Look down into the crater lake from the rim; the view opens to the islets
- Terevaka · Two to three hours up and back on grass; no shade at all
- Ana Te Pahu · Walk through a lava tube; uneven floor, so good shoes and a torch
- Ovahe · A quieter cove than Anakena; rockfall from the cliff, so keep away from its foot
- Poike · The oldest volcano, at the eastern end; see it from Tongariki
Things to do in Hanga Roa with kids
- Anakena · Soft sand, calm water most days, and moai right on the beach
- Pea Beach · A calm pool for small swimmers, in the middle of town
- Caleta Hanga Roa O'Tai · Turtles in the harbour; look, don't touch
- Ana Kakenga · A cave with two openings onto the sea cliff; a short crawl, with a torch
- Puna Pau · Giant red 'hats' lying in the grass, close to town
Where to eat in Hanga Roa
- Te Moana · Island fish and tuna dishes with a view of the sea; book for sunset
- Kuki Varua · Fish and ceviche on the main street, a terrace over the harbour
- Au Bout du Monde · Fish and Polynesian dishes; one of the island's best-known dinners
- Tataku Vave · Seafood on the rocks at Hanga Piko; ask for the catch of the day
- Restaurant Pea · Right over Pea beach; drinks and dinner as the surfers come in
Frequently asked questions about Hanga Roa
What is there to see in Hanga Roa?
The top sights in Hanga Roa are Ahu Tahai, Padre Sebastián Englert Museum and Holy Cross Church. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Hanga Roa?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Hanga Roa without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Hanga Roa?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Hanga Roa, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Who carved the moai.
How do you get to Hanga Roa and get around?
The main ways are Mataveri International Airport, Caleta Hanga Roa O'Tai and Hanga Piko. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Hanga Roa, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Hanga Roa that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Hanga Roa for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.