Visit Easter Island on a budget: our costs and tips

In our last article, Ben shared all the best tips for visiting Easter Island. Now, it’s my turn to reveal all our little financial secrets! Yes, indeed! Every time we mentioned Easter Island in our itinerary, people would look at us with wide eyes, saying: ‘Wow! That’s cool! But isn’t Easter Island a bit expensive?’ First good news: while getting to Rapa Nui (its Polynesian name) isn’t cheap, this trip is within reach for everyone with a bit of effort! Yes, visiting Easter Island on a budget is possible, and we’re breaking down the full cost for you!

Budget for getting to Easter Island

Let’s start with the most painful point. Easter Island is a remote South American island in the middle of the Pacific. To get there, your options are limited to a plane or a large cruise ship. We wouldn’t recommend swimming: it’s 3,600 km from the Chilean coast and 2,500 km from the nearest Tahitian island.

The cost of a cruise

Since we’re not yet 85, we passed on the cruise option ;). And frankly, given the price of these trans-Pacific trips, it won’t be for you either.
Well, if you’ve come to this article, it’s to find out how to visit Easter Island on a budget! To give you an idea, boarding a large cruise ship to Rapa Nui costs around 5,000 euros per person for a 35-day cruise… It hurts!

The cost of plane tickets to Easter Island

So, that leaves us with flying! You may already know, there are only two routes to Easter Island, and here are the average costs:

• Santiago – Easter Island: 1 flight per day with LATAM Airlines. Expect to pay between €300 and €450 for a round-trip flight from Santiago’s airport during the low season.
• Papeete (Tahiti) – Easter Island: Since reopening, there are barely any flights from Polynesia. Previously, LATAM Airlines operated this route once a week. Today, the connection runs once a month at an exorbitant price—several thousand euros… Prices were more variable from Papeete, but generally, you’d expect around €800 for a round-trip direct flight between Tahiti and Easter Island.

Prices during the Tapati Festival

Beware! Flight prices skyrocket during the Tapati Festival, which takes place in the first week of February. Every year, it attracts a large number of tourists! During January and February, round-trip flight prices hover around €600-650. The cheapest tickets are generally available between April and December. But don’t worry: Easter Island’s climate is fairly consistent throughout the year, so there’s no bad season to visit.

Entrance fee for Rapa Nui National Park

No savings to be had here. If you’re visiting Easter Island, you’ll need to pay the entrance fee for Rapa Nui National Park! You can buy the ticket at the park’s official ticket office (Kiri Reva in Hanga Roa) or apply on the official website. Once you have the ticket printed, it’s valid for 10 days from the date you indicated.

The entrance fee for Rapa Nui National Park is 72,000 Chilean pesos per adult and 36,000 Chilean pesos for children aged 7 to 12. Don’t be surprised by the price difference for Chileans… As foreigners, you’ll pay almost four times more! A small tip: make sure to arrive on Easter Island with enough Chilean pesos! The national park entrance fee can be paid in the national currency or US dollars. Since the price in dollars is $80 (equivalent to 74,500 pesos), you’ll save money by paying in Chilean pesos.

Cost of a guide on Easter Island

Previously, once you paid the entrance fee, all visits were included! But that was then… Since 2022, you must be accompanied by a guide to visit Easter Island and its archaeological sites. Prices vary depending on the services you want. For a full day, the average cost is $50-80 per person. To book a guide, compare tours here or here.

Accommodation budget on Easter Island

Let’s not sugarcoat it: accommodation on Easter Island is quite expensive, and the quality isn’t always worth the price.

Camping costs on Easter Island

The cheapest option we chose was camping! But beware: wild camping is strictly prohibited on the island. Don’t worry, you have a choice between three official campsites. Honestly, given the location, it’s hard to imagine a better spot to pitch your tent! We opted for Camping Minihoa, it was perfect: well-equipped kitchen, electricity, dishes, and transport to and from Mataveri Airport included in the price… We highly recommend it!

If you already have your camping gear, renting a spot costs 10,000 pesos per person per night. If you’re not equipped, the gear and the spot will cost you 12,000 pesos per person per night. We had our own equipment, but from what we saw, the provided camping gear was more than adequate!

To book, contact the team at contacto@mihinoa.com. If you plan to visit in early January, don’t delay in planning your stay. Spots fill up quickly due to the Tapati Festival.

Hotel prices on Rapa Nui

If sleeping on a camping mattress doesn’t appeal to you, Minihoa Camping also offers a few rooms. Nothing fancy, but they’re functional and among the cheapest on the island. Expect to pay around 50,000 pesos ($50) for a double room. Note that finding a room below this price is challenging. To compare hotel prices on Easter Island, click here! The same advice applies here: book in advance if you plan to visit in January or February.

Transportation costs on Easter Island

Easter Island isn’t particularly large. As a result, it’s very easy to visit most of the island using the cheapest form of transport: your feet! Yes, during our few days exploring the moai, we did almost everything on foot!

As Benoit showed you on the map of things to do on Easter Island, there’s one island tour that’s difficult to do on foot. But if a 40 km hike in a day appeals to you, go for it! To make sure you don’t miss out on the island, you have four transport options.

Take an organized tour

On the main street of Hanga Roa, several agencies offer organized tours of the island with a minibus and a guide, and as usual, there’s a wide range! Prices generally start from $50 per person for a group tour and $100 per person for private tours. Today, you must hire a guide.

Rent a car

The most commonly used option to get around and tour the island (and catch the sunrise at Ahu Tongariki) is to rent a car! You’ll find many agencies that all rent 4x4s by the day. On the island, there are only independent car rental companies—no Hertz! We recommend O Nei and Amar Pascua. Prices typically range between 40,000 and 65,000 pesos per day, depending on the type of vehicle. The most common and best-value car is the Suzuki Jimny. If you’re a group of four, renting a car is the cheapest option! All that’s left is to find travel companions.

Note: No vehicles are insured on the island. To avoid any issues, consider getting good travel insurance.

Rent a motorbike or quad

Scooters rent for around 20,000 pesos ($22) per day. After renting motorbikes for $5 in Indonesia, this is a bit of a shock! Quads are a bit more expensive at around 30,000 pesos per day. You’ll find plenty of places to rent a scooter or quad. Often, car rental agencies also offer two or four-wheel rentals.

In the end, this is the option we chose. As a pair, it costs the same as renting bikes. On principle, we didn’t want to pay the same price to sweat!

Rent a bike

Biking can be a good compromise between walking and scootering for a slightly more active exploration of Easter Island. We admit we were a bit lazy… Expect to pay around 10,000 pesos per day per bike.

Food budget on Rapa Nui

Food is probably the cost item where you can save the most! Don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest you eat only one meal a day or skip staying hydrated. Just keep in mind that Rapa Nui is a completely isolated island in the middle of the Pacific. As a result, local production is almost non-existent! This means that everything on the island has traveled at least 5.5 hours by plane or several days by boat to get there. So, it’s no surprise: food products are expensive, even very expensive, especially for most fresh produce!

Cooking at the campsite

The main advantage of staying at a campsite is having access to a fully equipped kitchen and dishes! This will help you avoid eating out as much as possible. To be honest, we didn’t eat at any of the restaurants on Easter Island! Why? Firstly, Easter Island doesn’t have a distinctive cuisine worth discovering. Secondly, paying $14 for a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce is something we’ve long since given up on!

Shopping in Santiago before arrival

If you’re coming from Santiago de Chile, make sure to do your shopping before boarding the plane! Instant coffee, packs of pasta, rice, tomato sauce, cereals, biscuits, condiments, rye bread, jam, canned goods… These are just a few examples of dry products that easily fit in a backpack and will cost you roughly 40% less if you buy them in a Santiago supermarket compared to the prices in Rapa Nui’s mini-marts.

Once on Easter Island, you’ll only need to buy fresh vegetables, salad, bread, milk, and other items. For example, just these few purchases cost us nearly 45 euros over five days. Needless to say, we were very glad we brought the rest from Santiago!

Remember to bring enough cash

On Easter Island, there are two ATMs, but be aware that they often run out of money. The official currency on Easter Island is the Chilean peso, but as is often the case in tourist areas, the US dollar is widely accepted. However, the exchange rate generally doesn’t favor Uncle Sam’s currency! Whether at restaurants, supermarkets, or for paying for your motorbike rental, try to use pesos or pay by credit card (if you don’t incur fees). Easter Island is safe, so don’t hesitate to withdraw a substantial amount in Santiago.

Our budget for 5 days on Easter Island

Here’s a breakdown of our expenses for two people:

• Groceries bought in Santiago before arriving on Easter Island: 28,000 pesos
• Two entries to Rapa Nui National Park: 60,000 pesos at the time (144,000 pesos today)
• Camping for two people per night: 20,000 pesos (x5)
• Electricity fee: 2,000 pesos (yes, we had to pay for electricity, but this is no longer the case)
• Scooter rental for 24 hours: 20,000 pesos
• Fuel for two laps around the island by scooter: 3500 pesos
• Small grocery purchases on Easter Island (fresh produce, water…): 50,800 pesos

All in all (excluding airfare), our budget for a 5-day stay on Easter Island was 353 euros (or 264,300 pesos), which averages out to 35 euros per day per person. For reference, 1 euro = 750 Chilean pesos at the time of our visit.

Note: Today, the travel budget would be slightly higher due to the overall increase in prices for accommodations and camping, the entrance fee to Rapa Nui National Park, and the requirement to have a guide. Plan on around 40 euros (40,000 Chilean pesos) per day per person.

Well, I think you now know everything there is to know about budgeting for Easter Island! And honestly, even though the airfare may raise your budget a bit, we REALLY recommend visiting Easter Island! We enjoyed 5 extraordinary days and don’t regret our visit at all! Ready to add Easter Island to your itinerary?

See you soon! Next up, Spanish lessons in Ecuador! Adiós chicos!

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