3 Best Sights in Easter Island, Chile

This small museum, Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastián Englert, is named for the German priest who dedicated his life to improving conditions on Rapa Nui and who is buried beside the church. It provides an excellent summary of the history of Easter Island and its way of life, as well as its native flora and fauna. Here, too, is one of the few female moai on the island and the replica of a coral eye found during the reconstruction of an ahu at Playa Anakena (the original is in storage after an attempted robbery). Texts are in Spanish and English. Note that the museum can easily overcrowd given its small size.

When it comes to moai, this is the motherlode. Some 400 have been counted at the quarry of this long-extinct volcano, both on the outer rim and clustered inside the crater. More than 150 are unfinished, some little more than faces in the rock. Among these is El Gigante, a monster measuring 22 meters (72 feet). Also here is Moai Tukuturi, the only statue in a kneeling position; it's thought to predate most others. Look out also for the moai with a three-masted boat carved on its belly; the anchor is a turtle. CONAF checks but does not sell tickets here. They are sold at the airport upon arrival or at the CONAF office near the Anthropological Museum, paid in dollars. The same ticket gives access to all archaeological sights on the island.

It's best to buy your national parks ticket upon arrival at the airport.

Hanga Roa has only two tiny beaches: Playa Pea, a stretch of sand near the bay where surfers go to catch waves, and another small beach on the northern edge of the town with a sea pool for swimming. Both are popular among local families with small children. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: snorkeling; sunset; swimming.