2025 Tapati Rapa Nui Festival Tour

Visiting this ancient ceremonial center, located just a ten-minute walk from Hanga Roa, offers the opportunity to explore two moai platforms of significant heritage value and to witness the sunset from one of the most privileged vantage points on Rapa Nui, where the sun meets the sea.

One of these platforms features a solitary giant statue known as Ko Te Riku. This particular moai stands out as the only one on Easter Island with "possessed" eyes, which were replaced during the filming of the movie Rapa Nui (1994), directed by Kevin Reynolds. This restoration was carried out based on the belief that the eye sockets of these monuments were once filled with coral. The other platform at Ahu Tahai boasts five moai statues, each in varying states of preservation.

One of the primary attractions of Tapati is the dramatization of ancestral tales, recounting the island's origins, the legendary exploits of the seven explorers, and the reign of King Hotu Matua, among others. Islanders, deeply proud of their heritage, express this sentiment through vibrant displays of song, dance, and storytelling, illuminating why Rapa Nui holds the esteemed title of the world's navel.

Following these cultural showcases, visitors have the opportunity to witness The Rapa Nui Tango, a dance form that emerged from the adaptation of Argentine traditions. Characterized by its minimalist melodies and incorporation of local customs, this captivating spectacle enraptures audiences, leaving them spellbound at first sight.

We will see live the most traditional preparation on the island at Anakena beach. During Tapati, the Umu Rapa Nui or Easter Island curanto, is cooked in a hole in the ground with firewood and red-hot stones, the same way it was done hundreds of years ago. The hot stones are covered with banana leaves on which meat, chicken and fish are placed and covered again with leaves and stones. A second layer is placed on top with sweet potatoes, taro and cassava and covered again with banana leaves and earth. The heat cooks the food in a slow and long process that turns the curanto into a communal meal. This typical tradition is held on the beach to feed all those who came to experience the event. The local priest gives a blessing to the curanto before taking it out of the ground.

We start our tour from Hanga Roa towards the natural cave of Ana Kai Tangata where it is possible to see some cave paintings depicting birds such as the "manutara" and where it is possible to see the waves crashing on the cliffs. We will continue our tour visiting the Rano Kau volcano from where we can see the largest crater on the island and one of the largest reserves of fresh water in the place. Finally, we will visit the Ceremonial Village of Orongo, an ancient and magnificent ceremonial city located on the western summit of the Rano Kau volcano, composed of 53 elliptical houses with slab walls and a small square entrance facing the sea. In this place the most important ceremony of the second period of the island, the election of the Tangata Manu (bird man) which was stopped approximately 150 years ago, due to the arrival of the first Christian missionaries.

Free evening.

We will pick you up at your accommodation at 9.00 am to start the route that will take us to visit several moais and the famous Anakena beach.

We will start visiting the ahu Vaihu, located in the bay of Hanga Te'e, and then pass by the ahu Akahanga, a place full of toppled moais. Later we will continue to the ahu Tongariki, one of the most important, as it will be our first approach to the mais erected standing in front of the Pacific Ocean; finally we will visit the ahu Nau Nau, located in Anakena beach, where we will have time to enjoy the sea.

We will also take advantage of the day to visit the Rano Raraku quarry, where the moais were carved in the past. According to what is said on the island, there are 400 moais in that area between those found on the slopes of the quarry and those buried underground.

At the end of the tour we will return to your hotel.

With their skillful hands and the help of chisels and gouges, they carve and carve, shaping a millenary memory, inherited from generation to generation by carving families. Moaís Piro Piro, Haka Nanai'á, tangata o, kava kava or tahonga are some of their best known pieces. Whatever the sculpture, once the rough work is finished, they proceed to sand it, smoothing every square centimeter of the wood surface.

The final touch is a sealing layer that gives the figure a unique shine, resistance and durability, preventing it from cracking or discoloration due to humidity and the sun.  

Of the five thousand inhabitants of Rapa Nui, today there are no more than a dozen artisan carvers who continue the legacy of the ariki Tu' u Ko Ihu, who prepare themselves throughout the year for the Tapati festival, when they share and spread the craft through a competition. The artisan with the greatest talent and speed to achieve complex designs and fine finishes is the winner. The biggest prize, they recognize, goes to the one who with his craft manages to enthuse a young person, who helps to perpetuate the ancestral knowledge of wood.

We leave by boat from Hanga Piko and head to the area of the caves formed centuries ago by volcanic eruptions and that served as shelter and housing for our ancestors, then we will see from the sea the area of Mataveri, then we will go to the islets or motus: Motu Kao Kao, Motu Iti and Motu Nui, where we will explain what was the competition of Tangata Manu and finally sail to the Tahai sector to see the ahu and moais of this important archaeological site. During the tour it is possible to swim and snorkel. All equipment (fins, masks, wetsuits, floats and ladders) is included.