Rapa Nui National Park

Rapa Nui National Park covers the archaeological and natural heritage of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and protects the island’s famous stone statues, ceremonial platforms and volcanic features. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains some of the world’s most concentrated and distinctive megalithic monuments.

Key visitor highlights include the quarry at Rano Raraku, where nearly all of the island’s moai were carved and where hundreds of incomplete and toppled statues remain; coastal ahu such as Ahu Tongariki with its 15 restored moai; and the white-sand Anakena bay with beachside ceremonial platforms. The park also includes volcanic cones, crater lakes and archaeological sites spread across the island.

Archaeological activity on Rapa Nui spans several centuries, with most moai construction and ahu building carried out by the island’s Polynesian inhabitants between roughly the 10th and 17th centuries CE. The modern park was established to protect the island’s cultural landscape, and restoration projects in the 20th century re-erected many moai at their coastal platforms.

The park occupies most of Easter Island in the southeastern Pacific, administered by Chile; the island lies about 3,700 kilometres west of the South American coast and is reached by air from mainland Chile. The visitor infrastructure is concentrated near the island’s main town, Hanga Roa, while archaeological sites are distributed around the coastline and interior.

• Moai concentration: The park protects nearly 900 monumental stone statues called moai and associated ceremonial platforms, which are concentrated at quarries, coastal ahu and inland sites across the island.
• Protection status: Declared a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it preserves both the island's archaeological record and a landscape of volcanic cones, crater lakes and coastal platforms.

What to See #

• Rano Raraku: The volcanic crater of Rano Raraku, the primary quarry where most moai were carved and where hundreds of incomplete and toppled statues remain in situ.
• Ahu Tongariki: Ahu Tongariki, the island's largest restored ahu with 15 re-erected moai standing on a single stone platform near the southeast coast.
• Anakena: Anakena Beach, a coastal ahu complex with white coral sand and several moai situated above a recreational beach site that is traditionally associated with founding legends.