Rano Raraku

My favorite place on the island. It's like a factory frozen in time. The Moai here are all in different stages of the construction process. This site has led to a greater understanding of how the Moai were created and transported

Visited April 11, 2023. Also known as the "moai factory". This rock quarry is a must visit! At the time, there was a fire that apparently damaged the infrastructure so hiking into the crater was not possible. There are numerous moais in various stages here, and you can actually get pretty close to some of them. The views from this area are pretty too.

If you only have time to visit one site, this is IT! It's included on most of the tours or you can rent your own car or RV to get to this spot. Since I've been eating too well on my Chilean trip, we decided to rent mountain bikes and ride around the island at our own leisure to see all the sites. Of course, couldn't miss this one. According to the literature, there are close to 400 moai here, and this is the quarry where all the moai are created, and carved from the volcanic mountain side. Many of the moai are incomplete and some are abandoned. The large the moai, the later in timeline they were created. Many are buried halfway along the hillside which is how the scientists have left them. It's a common misconception that the moai are just giant heads with no bodies. The heads to body ratio is about 3 to 1. The bodies are buried leaving only the heads exposed. The buried body helps to preserve the carving on the moai's back. The hillside offers some wonderful photo opportunities, be sure to allocate plenty of time at this site to walk around and absorb all the historical importance and beautiful scenary.

Rano Raraku is most iconic site on Easter Island. This is there most of unfinished Moai live, and the rest that you see around the Isla de Pascua came from this quarry as well. Making across the island in one piece to Rano Raraku, on manual drive and on fun unpaved roads - this is a cool adventure on it's own... (Do you believe we made it? I certainly don't.) From entrance hut, turn left at the road fork to see the mysterious figures. The site is huge, and several path are set around the hill so you can make your way around all Moais. They are mind-boggling, really. The size, the features, and the number of them - each one is different. Really impressive sight. There is a cave with opening to the old quarry, you can only look at it from behind the ropes. As you turn around the hill, you will see last, and very unusual figure of Tutu, or sitting full-figure Moai. The views from this side are beautiful, and you can see and hear wild horses running around. There are lots of them on the island. Make your way back, take that road to the right, leading to the crater lake. It's a bit steep, and there are lots of wild horses running around. Sidestepping between the horses and their poo, higher and higher road goes, till the view of the crater, now a peaceful lake, opens up. Locals making BBQ on the shore, walls of the crater protecting from winds, and horses walking on the slopes. How peaceful! You can walk on a ridge to the right to get full view of the crater. Good start of the Easter Island adventure so far!

Probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I would recommend you rent a car (very safe driving during the day) and drive out here and look around. Don't get a tour guide, because you are rolling the dice on getting a bad or good one. Just show up and you'll see about 2-5 other groups with guides and you can easily eavesdrop. Or I would suggest you just look into getting a book about it as that will be easy to understand as some guides have bad English. You'll save money that way as well. Look for the Moai with the ship drawn on his stomach. If you can't find it ask around and you'll see it. You can also see remains of Moai that hadn't cut out of the rock completely yet.