2 minute summary Best time to visit Moai stone statues

Best time to visit Easter Island

Whether you’re looking at a specialist photography tour, fancy some world-renowned scuba diving or just want to marvel at the moai, find out the best time to visit Easter Island. We’ve also included some useful tips and advice from ourselves, our travel experts, and those who’ve been before.

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Best time to visit Easter Island

With its temperate climate, Easter Island with its famous moai statues is a year-round destination, though winds and rain can be unpredictable.

The high season on Easter Island is the Southern Hemisphere summer between January and March, and even though it receives relatively few visitors due to its isolation, the island is so small that crowds are very noticeable. The best time to visit Easter Island is either side of the high season, when you can expect temperatures around 22°C. It gets blustery on this exposed, flat island, so a rain and wind-proof overcoat is recommended whatever time of year you’re traveling. Do stay up late as well: in a place as remote and underpopulated as this, the light pollution is next to zero, making Easter Island a wonderful spot for stargazing.

Call us for the best time to go to Easter Island

Easter Island Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

120

MAY

147

JUN

107

JUL

104

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

EASTER ISLAND TRAVEL ADVICE

Rosie Tobin from our partner on the cultural highlights of Easter Island:

Moai

“The most famous and best preserved Moai site is Ahu Tongariki, where 15 complete statues stand in a line on their ahu plinth. Here you can also see the largest Moai on the Island at 86 tonnes! Other Moai sites include Ahu Akivi, Ahu Vaihu, Ahu Akahanga, Raro Raraku, Ahu Te Pito Kura, the Puna Pau quarry and Ahu Tahai. Other must-see locations include the impressive Rano Kau volcanic crater and the ruins of the ceremonial village of Orongo. For geology enthusiasts the caves of Ana Kai Tangata, close to the main town of Hanga Roa, are also worth a visit.”

Umu meals

“We can help organise an Umu dinner, which is a fantastic cultural activity and a great opportunity to meet the locals. They teach you how to use an underground clay oven, called an umu. You prepare some traditional dishes and learn about the cultural history of Easter Island. Then you all enjoy a banquet dinner together and the locals put on a Polynesian dance performance.”

Getting to Easter Island

“The only reasonable way to get to Easter Island is by flying (unless you want to spend three weeks and a lot of money on a boat crossing the notoriously rough Pacific Ocean!). The flight from Santiago takes around five hours. Most visitors stay in or around Santiago before and after their trip to Easter Island, since the flight times make onwards travel on the same day difficult. Getting around Easter Island itself is very simple due to its small size. Most tour groups use private cars or buses but it’s also possible to explore on foot, or even on horseback.”

Photography

Kathy Jarvis from our partner on capturing Easter Island:
“The whole island is very photogenic especially up on the hills, and on the coastline. It can be problematic taking pictures in some places, due to the restrictions on the island by the national park. Some areas are difficult to get into before sunrise and after sunset, and there are also restrictions on the number of times you can visit a site and generally there is no access before 10am. There are also barriers around the moai - you are not permitted to get too close. But there are some fabulous locations - it’s a small island and going round it each day will show up many excellent spots for photography.”

TIPS FROM OUR TRAVELLERS

At Responsible Travel, we think the best people to advise our travelers are often... other travelers. They always return from our tours with packing tips, weather reports, ideas about what to do – and opinions about what not to.

We have selected some of the most useful Easter Island travel advice that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your vacation – and the space inside your suitcase.

There was a maximum of 4 of us on each experience so it felt really personal and like we have the whole island pretty much to ourselves.

– Nina Szewczak on an Easter Island adventure vacation

“Our time at Easter Island was truly magnificent! We had the same tour guide throughout our stay and he was very passionate and super knowledgeable. We also loved the fact that the tours are so tailored - there was a maximum of 4 of us on each experience so it felt really personal and like we have the whole island pretty much to ourselves. Watching the sun go down behind the Moai was an amazing experience, but all other points of our tour were magnificent too so it's impossible to choose one memory that's most exciting. We went in August so although the winter temperatures are still warm - be prepared for changing weather with some rain and wind.” – Nina Szewczak on an Easter Island adventure vacation

“Beautiful Island. Doesn't take too long to see the major sites, but it's a very pleasant atmosphere. The restaurants are mostly fairly informal, but serve great food (the ceviche makes the trip worthwhile). Local Rapa Nui acted as a guide. She was obviously very concerned with protecting the monuments and treating them with respect.” – Jeffrey Swensen on an Easter Island vacation

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Written by Rob Perkins

Best time to visit Easter Island