You can only visit with a guide and only visit once. Walk among giants in the legendary moai statue quarry Rano Raraku. This volcano that was turned into a factory invokes a sense of mystery in an almost surreal way, stronger than any other place at Easter Island. This is the heart of ancient Rapa Nui civilization with hundreds of abandoned moais scattered around. Moai statues were carved here, before being transported to all other corners of the island. Here we see many demonstrations of the incredible skills in statue carving that was reached in the ancient Easter Island society, since we here have the largest and most refined statues of the whole island.

Rano Raraku and Rapa Nui National Park are one and the same. You have to buy the tickets online for $90 which covers all sites on the island although Rano Raraku can be visited only once. In addition, you must be accompanied by a local, preferably a guide, which is a rip-off but since you came here to see the moai you have no choice but pay.

Egypt has the pyramids, India has the Taj Mahal, and Rapa Nui has the mo’ai statues. While the latter are probably not as well-known, they are within a measurable distance of that fame. Carved by indigenous islanders between ca. 1250 and 1500, the statues represent a minimalist style of art, widely regarded as being created in homage to ancestors that have recently died. There are almost 1,000 of these stone carvings found on Rapa Nui in various states of preservation and completion, with maybe a dozen scattered throughout the world in places such as London, Paris, Washington D.C., and New Zealand. The vast majority of mo’ai were created at Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater with an abundant amount of ash found on the eastern side of Rapa Nui. I visited with a guide in the middle of the first day of my formal tour on the island. After checking in at the front office, our first stop was at a table containing different types of stone used on the island including tuff, basalt, and scoria. The remainder of the visit consists of a following a trail in a vaguely circular loop. Along the 1,500+ meter path are maybe a dozen interpretive points which include statues in various states of completion and preservation. Included in this list are the only kneeling mo’ai (Tukuturi) and the largest mo’ai (69 feet high, 200+ tons). There are a few lookout stations where we paused to discuss certain topics and appreciate views of the countryside, including remnants of a path used to distribute the finished products to other parts of the island. Total time on site was about 90 minutes. In summary, along with Orongo (see separate review) this attraction was the highlight of my four days on the island. The main reason for this is the somewhat eerie, apocalyptic atmosphere that pervaded the entire experience. For some unknown reason the era of statue carving came to a sudden end on the island in the 1500’s but instead of a gradual decline it seems to have suddenly halted as if by executive order. Secondly, my visit here made me realize the sheer time and effort it took to create these objects especially in the pre-industrial era. One can read as many numerical statistics as you want but nothing compares to viewing the area in person. A visit here is absolutely essential even if your time on the island is a brief.