Hotels near Mataveri International Airport - IPC, Hanga Roa

Rapa Nui is like this dream destination: an island in the middle of nowhere with an extremely interesting history and culture. The island has amazing nature and plenty of sites to visit. A long weekend is ok to see the highlights of the island, but if you want to include water sports then a bit more time has to be added to the trip.

Unique island - fascinating history AND current culture. We easily spent 22 nights. Not nearly as expensive as on-liine chats imply. We bought fresh and unknown-to-us vegetables and fruit in the market, so ate very well. Saved our pennies to go out for Pisco Sours! Did lots of walking, went on 2 horse back trips, and rented scooters on 2 days.

I read on the internet:- 1. You could buy your ticket (USD80) for the National park at the airport. This is no longer the case. You have to buy your entry ticket in town. 2. Also, you could get your passport stamped with an Easter Island stamp at the post office. This is no longer the case. Go to the tourist information in town (sea front).

You need to have interest in the history of the island. Showing up for a "resort style vacation" would be the wrong reason to go. We did a lot of homework and it was almost emotional to be there, especially after the island was run into the ground by greed.... You do need a guide to enter the parks. Sunscreen and water is your friend. You can stamp your passport, but not open on weekends.

There are many great restaurants, especially if you like the fish food! Those moais are magical and sunrise tour is must! Some things are very expensive there in Easter Island, example renting a bike is 25€/24h ! I understand that some things in so isolated place is more expensive, but I think they have cartel in some business. Maybe they all don't understand that even they want to avoid the competition with each other, they will still have that competition with other vacation places. If people think it's too expensive, they go somewhere else.

CONS: - Too much of a "money-grab" was our experience. Felt like we were looked at like "walking dollars". - Over-priced EVERYTHING. I know it's a remote island, but seriously! - Too often, the card machines were "not working", so they wanted cash. We would walk away and return a few minutes later or longer, wait until we see a local use a credit card, and then make our purchase. - TOO MANY LOOSE DOGS!! Their excrement is everywhere, many are in poor health. One followed us from waterfront to our hotel, and we had to fend off 40+ other dogs (no exaggeration) that got aggressive. We fed and watered this skinny dog, and walked it back to the waterfront area where "it found us" when we went back out in the afternoon. - Basically two beaches where you can swim - but in reality, one. And it's 18km away from the populated side of the island. - Many dusty roads driven by aggressive drivers. PROS: - The island is beautiful! - A few nice hikes. - Moai