as in the subject.
i would appreciate any suggestion about such trip (i will be flying into SCL by RTW ticket and stay for about 2-3 days - more if you recommend so)
- hotel
- how to get around
- what to see
- what/where to eat

thank you.

bump......

Am reviving this thread to ask for advice about hotels on Easter Island; I've already read elsewhere not to expect anything special.

Any reports on:

Aloha Nui Guest House
Hotel Ota'i
Hotel Manutara
Hotel Iorana
Hotel Hangaroa

Since no-one else has said anything ...

Not sure that I can be any help with the hotels - we stayed at the Hostel Rapa Nui, a majestic 7,500 pesos per night, which came complete with melancholic landlady, free empanadas, and a pet scorpion in the bedroom !

With regards to what to see, and getting around:

lots and lots of moai (obviously) - I kinda felt that I'd seen enough after the first twenty or so, but my wife wanted to see them all.
The quarry (sorry, don't have guidebook or journal here, so don't remember the name) where they cut out the moai - really incredible, but get there early or late to avoid most of the tour groups. The other quarry, where they cut out the topknots, was forgettable.
The volcanic crater, settlement and Bird islands at the Southern tip of the island - absolutely go and spend some time there. We sent up there twice in the evening / for sunset, and it's wonderful. It's walkable from Hanga Roa (well, we did) and if you go up there on a 'flight-night' you get to watch the jet landing below you in the dusk on the longest runway in the Southern Hemispere !

Getting around - don't take a tour group. Hire a jeep (20-30,000 pesos per day) and see the island at your own pace.

Food - is incredibly expensive compared to the mainland, and we didn't find it particularily good (but then we were on a tight budget, so didn't go to the good places). We did like the little place on the right heading out of town on the road towards the airport (that's not really that helpful, but if you're really interested I can check in our journal what it's called).

hth
Stewart

StewieMac thanks for the info. I'm hazarding a guess here, but do you, per chance, live in the Lake District? :)

Im afraid I cant help you with Easter Island, but, you should contact Ozstamps. I understand he has been there a couple of times. Send him a private message, Im sure he will be happy to assist you.

You should be able to find Ozstamps on the United Airlines forum.

Cheers!!

Hi pegasus8228,

I did a quick turn-around on Easter Island as part of a OWE in March 2001. I wrote a report about it, which can be found here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180942&referrerid=6611

As the Easter Island flight continues to Pappette and then returns to IPC before going back to SCL, I got off in IPC and then caught the same plane back to SCL when it returned to IPC. At the time, there was one weekly flight, so my options were either 18 hours or 7 days. I opted for 18 hours. I stayed at the Vai Moana, which was "rustic," but had all the facilities I needed and they offered free airport pick-up and drop-off. This property is classified as a three star establishment (which I thought was being too generous) na dcost around $50 (US) per night. Through the hotel, I arranged a 3 hour private tour for $100, which I thought was money well spent. My guide drove me to all the main sights and dropped me off at the airport in time to catch the flight back to SCL. I found it an adequate amount of time, but would have liked an extra day or two to explore. IMO, your 2 to 3 days stay will be the ideal amount of time. It really is a small island and you should be able to explore it in detail in that time.

Enjoy and feel free to e-mail or message me with any additional questions you may have!

Am reviving this thread to ask for advice about hotels on Easter Island; I've already read elsewhere not to expect anything special.

Any reports on:

Aloha Nui Guest House
Hotel Ota'i
Hotel Manutara
Hotel Iorana
Hotel Hangaroa


If you are looking for any hotel abouve a 1 star forget it......I stayed at the Hanga Roa ( November 2003) where the staff were lovely, the fish fresh and well prepared (forget presentation....) but the rooms pretty basic and the main building itself was falling apart. The Taha Tai, down the street looked a bit better.

I loved Easter Island, seeing all the Moai, the Rano Raraku quarry where the unfinished moais lay like fallen warriors all over the hill, the Ahu Te Pito Kura, called the world's navel, a magnetic round smooth stone that will create havoc with a watch if you get it too close....

I had a wonderful Rapa Nuuian/Chilean guide named Lillian Pakarati who is from one of Rapa Nui's oldest and biggest families there and thoroughly knowledged on her land. She was my guide and driver for two incredibly interesting days.

I would like to go back. It captivated me.

as in the subject.
i would appreciate any suggestion about such trip (i will be flying into SCL by RTW ticket and stay for about 2-3 days - more if you recommend so)
- hotel
- how to get around
- what to see
- what/where to eat

thank you.


Get a good driver/guide like Lilly (China) Pakarati (lilipak@hotmail.com) to give you a two or three day tour of the island. She is a native, comes from the largest family on Rapa Nui and is a wealth of knowledge. She has a small suzuki which is perfect to bounce around in.....and she knows everyone, everything about the place. Including best restaurants, what to have (fish)....
I did two days with her, then struck out on my own in a Suzuki the third day and revisited some of what I had seen with her. Take a good roadmap and lots of water if you do this!

Any reports on:

Hotel Ota'i

We stayed at the Hotel Ota'i 18 months ago. We were content, given the mediocre quality of the hotels overall. I recommend getting a room near the front which has an outside patio area; you share the patio with 2 other rooms. There is a TV room with a number of videos on Easter Island. We had a good time watching them. And there is a lady in the front office who is tremendously helpful. We sent an email in advance of our visit; she arranged our car rental. We picked it up the morning after we arrived, and away we went. There is no such thing as insurance for the vehicle, btw. She gave us great advice on restaurants as well.

Spent 4-nights on Easter Island...two big thumbs up. Relatively speaking, it is very expensive, though. But I took some solace in that I felt most of the money was staying with the natives on the island. Thankfully, the island has thus far avoided complete commercialization.

Biggest thumbs up goes to our driver/tour guide. I'm usually not a tour guide kind of guy, but this was most definitely an exception. There were five of us, and he had a nice new Hyundai van that you could probably cram eleven into. I believe he has a smaller vehicle, too. He was US $130/day and was the bargain of the trip. He's a very knowledgable guy whose English is infinitely better than he gives himself credit for. But if you knew Spanish, this guy would really really be able to drop the knowledge on you.

We hired him for 2 days and went out with him each day from about 10am-7pm. On the first day, we had in passing mentioned the restaurant we were going to that night. When the electricity went out throughout Hanga Roa while we were dining at 9:30pm, the driver popped his head in and told us to give him a call when we're done eating and he'd drive us back to the hotel so we didn't have to walk in the dark. Complete surprise...and pure class.

His name is Enrique Carrasco Hotus (phone: 56-32-551064 email: kararakurapanui@entelchile.net). Can't say enough good things about this guy.

If you're looking to spend big bucks on food, there is La Taverne du Pecheur. It's owned by a big, jolly, mustachoied French guy. Best meal I had on the island, by far...but easily the most expensive restaurant on the island, as well. There's also an empanaderia that I can't remember the name of that was very good and inexpensive.

We stayed at Hotel Chez Maria Goretti (http://www.chezmariagoretti.cl/eng1024.htm). As everyone says, the accomodations there leave something to be desired...but that's not why you go to Easter Island...so c'est la vie.