Easter Island 3-2019 on Explorer

[qb51]

We are set to sail from Easter Island (Explorer Voyage 7906) on March 16, 2019.  Due to some regrettable confusion/misunderstanding 😥, we will only have a few hours to see the island before embarkation.  Is it possible to see anything in such a contracted time frame?  We don't want to ”miss the boat” but we'd like to see an actual statue while we're there.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.  Thanks!

[jpalbny]

Oh, how unfortunate! Easter Island needs to be done in 2-3 days. We did it as an independent add-on after our Explorer Cruise in November 2017 that ended in Chile. We flew to Easter Island (from Santiago) the day after disembarkation and stayed 3 days.

 

There are a few cool things to see right in the town of Hanga Roa, which is about 10 minutes from the airport and fairly close to where you will (likely) tender to the ship. Though in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't embark or disembark there so I don't know for SURE where you'll embark the tenders.

 

So, even if you only have an hour or so you can spend a few minutes seeing Moai. There are two Ahu (the platforms where the Moai sit) and another random Moai, just outside of town on the other side of the cemetery. You could get there from town in 5 minutes with a car, or 10-15 minutes by foot. One Ahu has a big Moai which is restored with eyes and a hat, and the other has five that are less well-preserved, and then there's the random one. They are reasonably authentic-looking. You can't touch them though as they are cordoned off by a stone barrier. Here are two views of what's there.

 

 

 

Right in town there is another Moai (maybe two, can't remember). This guy is at the small harbor, where the dive boats dock, but I don't think that this is the harbor you will use (could be mistaken).

 

 

There is a park of other statues in town, closer than the cemetery, which is interesting. And there they have a few more moai, including one where you can pose for pictures.

 

 

I would guess that you'll embark at the other bigger harbor where they have the cargo haulers. That's on the other side of town opposite the cemetery. It's at the end of the airport runway so when you're there, you can see the planes land right over your head. There is a big Moai there too.

 

 

And here are the cargo haulers. Ships bigger than this anchor offshore and cargo is shuttled in using these guys. Cruise ships tender their passengers.

 

 

If you're doing the LATAM flight, this is your plane on its final landing approach. 

 

 

There is a small museum a few minutes from the cemetery but if you just want to see Moai, I'd skip that and visit the sites I've outlined. If you have 3-4 hours then you can probably do the museum too. The town is compact. The museum, and the harbor, are the furthest sites I've mentioned and they are less than 4 km driving distance apart.

 

The other sites are (I think) too far away to see. The quarry is about 40 minutes from town and then it takes an hour to walk around so you probably don't have time. The famous site with 15 Moai lined up is a little further away than the quarry. Best bet is to try to see them from the air or when the ship sails by.

 

Link to my pictures of Easter Island if you want more info but I think I've told you everything that you can reasonably see in a few hours. https://jpalbny.smugmug.com/Easter-Island-November-2017/

 

 

 

Link to my trip report (Easter Island is at the end, starting with post #277 (page 12) , if you want more details about, and pictures of the places close to town. I think there are some of the museum in there.

 

 

[qb51]

Thanks so much, JP, for your encouraging response.  It gives us hope that we can perhaps salvage something from this unhappy start to our cruise.  If I can just see one moai, I'll be happy!  Thank you again.  

[jpalbny]

I think that you will have time to do that. I'm sorry that you don't have more time but hope you can make the most of it. It may be worthwhile to find a tour guide to pick you up at the airport and drive you around for a few hours. You need someone who knows where to take you, so that you maximize your time. 

[red4lisa]

Thanks jpalbny for the information on Easter Island. I will be there Feb. 24th just for the day but, I appreciate the information you shared! I can't wait, so excited! Lisa

[mygreyhound66]

Greetings, we too, are on this voyage and super excited!  I suspect that you, like me, thought there was more time in Easter Island prior to the actual cruise - I caught onto that at some point and made the deviation request so that we could have 2 nights prior in Easter Island.  Might I suggest that you try contacting some of the guides for the island, perhaps you can arrange a couple of hours for a private tour?

 

Accordingly the flight arrives during the mid-day time frame and we don't set sail until 21:00.  

[qb51]

Yes, we thought we were to have 1 night on Easter Island, as did our TA, right up until the time that SS deemed otherwise and rescheduled our hotel and flight without any notice.  It was just a fluke that I caught the change on the ”My SS” webpage.  We are not happy, to say the least. 😪

Edited February 14, 2019 by qb51