iahphx

Just practical stuff -- I make no judgment as to the "fairness" of local pricing (OK, the inflated ticket price for foreigners for the 2 main attractions is gouging ).

The reality is it's not so easy to buy food you want to eat on Easter Island. As I've mentioned, and has been recently confirmed, it's not even easy to buy fish on a tropical island with almost no people! Visitors should know this and be prepared.

Middle_Seat

IIRC, there is only one supply ship per week from the mainland.

ghia74

I just came back from a great 3 day trip. Thanks to this thread I had my expectations in place. Yes the prices are relatively high but when you consider it is so isolated it really is not that bad. I was in Nantucket the weekend before and meal prices were kind of similar. When you see how the standard of living there you do mot really get the feeling people are out to gouge you. And if you stick to tuna dishes the quality is great. As for the $50 we paid to get in I think it might be the only revenue Chile gets fom the island as there are no sales or income taxes. If this place were cheap and easy to get through I would hate to see what even larger numbers of tourists would do to the place.

We stayed at the Tupa and while not a Ritz it was a good location and provided a nice place to sleep and shower. Most of our daylight was spent out and about anyway. One thing I did like is that it was not in the center of town. As someone mentioned earlier most of the Hanga Roa roads are stone and make tire noise loud. Also, there seems to be pride in some of the locals on how loud they can make their motorcycles. I could imagine this would make sleeping difficult. I liked being able to hear the waves outside of my room.

On an interesting note I did meet another Flyertalker. During my planning I was frustrated in that as far as guide books go, Easter Island is relegated to a chapter at the end of a Chile book. Through some research I came upon "A Companion to Easter Island (Guide to Rapa Nui)" by James Grant-Peterkin. I got so much information out of it and was so impressed with his knowledge of the island I contacted James about being our guide for one day. Throughout the day we were talking about the type of travelers that come to Easter Island and how they tend to be the more experienced tourist. I mentioned Flyertalk and it turns out James has contributed to these threads. So I definitely recommend the book if you are headed there. And I am sure some of those who have already been saw it as many of the shops carry it.

Viajero Perpetuo

All goods and services in Chile (with a few exceptions) have a 19% IVA (value-added tax) hidden in the price. Chile is primarily funded by IVA over income taxes.

There has been talk of a separate fee to enter Isla de Pascua.

ghia74

I did not realize the exemption was for non-Chilean residents only.

Viajero Perpetuo

Only lodging when paid for in USD or foreign credit card and only if the lodging establishment has registered with the tax authority. There is supposedly a 60 day limit when on a tourist card but many places seem to ignore this.

All other IVA, you must pay non-resident or resident.

Vendors at the feria libres are exempt from collecting IVA.

chunky649

Decided to visit Easter Island as a bucket list crossing "detour" from our 12 day Peru trip. This will occur early November this year.

I currently have a LIM-IPC 1am - 7am and IPC-LIM 6:20pm-11:10pm 4 days later (4 days and 3 nights in IPC). I've read several articles and all of the threads on FT regarding this subject.

From my studying, I am thinking I don't need 4 full days. However, due to the flight restrictions, I am either keeping the flight I have, or switch to a same-day return - arrive 7am, leave 6:20pm. Assuming the flights are on-time, I have ~10 hours. Here is my plan, along with some questions on logistics:

7am: land, buy National Park tickets for ~$50usd.
7:30am: Arrive into town by walking. Find a scooter/car rental place and rent 2 scooters or a car. (yes, I can drive a manual, but never rode a scooter before).
8am: Drive in a clockwise direction, starting with Orongo, Anakena Beach and nearby navel of the earth, Ahu Tongariki, and Rano Raraku.
~5pm, be back in town, return the scooter/car, walk or taxi to the airport for flight back to Lima.

Assumption: we are fairly fit and energetic. We are used to "whirlwind tourism"... we aren't terribly interested in hearing the history of the Moai when I'm there, as I've read it already in guides and forums...

Q1: The island do not seem to be very large. I considered renting bicycles, but decided against it due to luggage (big backpacks) and potential weather (wind and maybe rain). What is the approximate cost of renting scooters for a day?

Q2: Are there any sort of luggage storage places at the airport or in town?

Q3: Do I really need a 4x4? I am experienced in driving through snow, and unless there are severe rain, do I have to worry about getting stuck? Similarly, would scooters be safe? Typical speed on the roads?

Q4: The major sites mentioned above - how much hiking do we need to get there from where we park the car/scooter? I guess this is the most important consideration for timing the day.

Q5: I've read about people saying I only need to be at the airport 30 minutes before the flight. How true is that? It is an international flight...

Q6: I picked the sites I mentioned based on reading this thread and looking at photos at the airpano site. Am I missing anything that would be considered "must-see"?

iahphx

I keep having to tell flyertalkers they are foolish for spending ridiculously short amounts of time in the places they visit. I will give you the same advice. Your plan is ridiculous. Cut a day from your Peru trip and at least spend the freakin' night on the island. Or go to Easter Island when you have more time.

That said, I suppose it's more than possible to breeze through the highlights of Easter Island in less than a day. The island is small. There aren't many roads, so you won't get lost. You've never driven a scooter before but you want to rent one? Odd. Get yourself a car if you don't want to hire a guide. You might want to pre-arrange it because it's not like you'll be walking into Hertz and there are cars ready to go. You will be in a hurrry. At 8 am, they will be on island time, and probably not open.

chunky649

IAHPHX, thanks for the advice. Can you (or anyone) give me an idea as to when people wake up (business open) in town? From what I read here and elsewhere, there isn't a neighbourhood Hertz, but shouldn't be short of places to rent cars from. From reading here and elsewhere, the best deal is still to rent on-sight and negotiate when I'm there.

Henwurst

I did the day trip via Lima in February this year. Overall the place felt pretty dead in the morning and people are not in a hurry, so if time is an issue I would recommend arranging things in advance. It will probably be cheaper to arrange on the spot, but you risk wasting a lot of time. I arranged with this guy to pick me up at the airport and show me around during the day (by car) and I was very pleased. If you would rather drive by yourself he or someone else can probably be contacted in advance to arrange a rental. Also keep in mind that Easter island is in a funky time zone and it may still be dark when you arrive.

I think my day trip worked out very well and I was able to spend a good amount of time at the main sites without having to rush (granted I'm a fast hiker and didn't have any lunch). I agree that a little more time on the island would have been ideal, but because of a number of factors (such as the flight schedule) it wasn't possible to make the trip longer.

My guide dropped me off at the airport 2 hours in advance. The place was crowded, but overall I'd say I was there way too early. Not sure when check in closes, but 30 minutes doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

iahphx

The car would definitely be cheaper to arrange "on the spot," but if you're trying to breeze through Easter Island in a day it would definitely be worth spending the extra money to have the car "waiting for you" upon arrival (especially early in the morning).

As far as check-in goes, a good solution would be to check-in hours before your flight (not sure what time the counter opens) and then do other stuff on the island until, say, 45 minutes before departure (ask when the last time you can go through security is). Also arrange to drop your car at the airport if you can.

ghia74

I just did 3 days in August. I have also done the day trips to Giza, Red Square, and the Taj Mahal to cross them off the bucket list so I understand what you are trying to do.

If you are doing the day trip my advice is to hire a guide for the day. They can meet you at the airport and best decide what you can see in your time frame and then drop you off atbthe end. The cost would be about $250 for the day. For comparison, figure a rental will be about $75-$100 by the time you get done with gas. If you decide you want to go at it alone Oceanic and Insular are the 2 main rental agencies on the island. There are no major chains like Hertz. My experience was that they opened around 9. As far as an itin, I would skip Orongo and stick to the major Moai sites. Just as a heads up, on our return to SCL we waited for the inbound flight from LIM. It was 2 hours late that day.

iahphx

I would say Orongo is worthwhile and is different from the major Moai sites (it's like the only truly worthwhile site on EI that's NOT about moai!). In a whirlwind day trip, you could probably make enough time to see them all.

BTW, I rented from Oceanic, but I booked the rental through a shopkeeper who got me a much better rate than what Oceanic wanted to charge me directly. Not sure how that works.

lotuspad

My favorite was Rano Raraku - it felt like walking amidst the moai as they slowly emerged from the quarry. Orongo was also interesting, but we visited at the tail end of our one day "whirlwind tour", so it made less of an impression (one of the casualties of trying to see everything in one day).

I'd echo previous comments about how the island wakes up slowly. We learned that the hard way when we arrived before dawn ready to hit the ground running only to find that no one was ready to run with us.

That being said, we had a delightful time seeing the sights of the island thanks to the provenance of finding a kind and helpful local taxi who drove us around for the full day. We also had my mother there with us and she was a trooper and kept up with our breakneck pace all day long, no complaints.

Good luck and happy planning!

chunky649

Thank you all to your responses. Here is my thinking, with some contingencies:

7am: arrival, pick up luggage (duffel, not too heavy), walk to town to pick up rental car and breakfast.
8am: officially start the journey - driving north to visit Anakena beach (including the navel stones), then, Ahu Tongariki, Rano Raraku, then back to town area for lunch, then visit Orongo last.

From my reading, these are the must-see, and from the maps, I don't think I need a guide (not interested in explanations/histories/stories) UNLESS the paths/sights are not clearly marked/accessable from the main road.

We'll bring snacks in case we can't get breakfast at 7:30am.
If the rental places can't accomodate a 7am start, we can walk to Orongo first.
We'll bring rain gear in case we need it.
If there is a weather delay, we'll play it by ear.
Worst case, we hire a taxi/guide to see as much as we can in the time we have.

I'll write a report after I'm done (early November)

Thanks for the encouragement from Ghia74. The Taj was definitely a 1-day affair (not even, but it takes time to get there from Delhi). I thought it was awesome, but I never want to go back there. I feel the same about the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls (even though I've returned to both many times, mainly to bring others there). Interestingly, other less remarkable places attracts me back for different reasons - NYC, San Fransisco, Paris, Death Valley, Zion National Park... Perhaps Easter Island will become one of these places. People see EI as remote and therefore exotic and special. For for a frequent traveler, its simply a little more flight time and preparation. (From the US, not too different than flying to Singapore or AUS/NZ).