EASTER ISLAND - RAPA NUI - THE WEATHER GODS SMILED ON US!

Tuesday, January 21, 2025,72 Degrees, 70% Humidity, W – NNW 6.5 mph

From the very beginning, even last week, any discussion about Easter Island always talked about how changeable the weather/waves were. The chances of our Tenders being able to dock on shore were 50%/50%! We lucked out and couldn’t have had better weather, and Day 2 was even better than Day 1! It was a little gray and rainy in the morning, but the sun was out and beautiful by noon each day. The sea swells were 3 to 4 feet, but the surface was often smooth and glassy.

The Port Talk the day before was a little scary – much discussion about the dangers of getting on and off the Tenders. There was much discussion on the limited bathroom facilities. Conflicting messages – drink lots of water and stay hydrated but be prepared that bathrooms may not be available. The Captain showed projected wave charts and said they looked good, but he wouldn’t make the final decision until the day we needed to launch the Tenders. The Tender docking station ashore is very tight and has a sharp turn. Only one Tender can enter at a time. Good news – Day One was a Go (day Two also)! People not on a scheduled Tour had to get Tender Numbers and board according. Tenders started earlier than expected (both days). We got a Certificate from the Captain (I think everyone did) for a Successful Port Call at Easter Island, so we can officially cross it off our Bucket List! We could see many Moai from the ship.

Easter Island got its name because the first European to make a record of landing here was Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen, arriving on Easter Sunday, 1722. The Island is known to the natives as Rapa Nui.

Easter Island is a World Heritage site most famous for its stone statues, the Moai, which dot the coastline. Each Moai is carved from a single piece of compressed volcanic ash. The largest, Paro, is almost 33 ft. high and weighs 83 tons. There is an unfinished Moai still in the quarry, which would have been 69 ft. tall and weighed 270 tons if completed. So far, 397 Moai have been counted on the Island. The culture that created the Moai is believed to have lasted 500 to 1,000 years and disappeared shortly before the arrival of Europeans to Easter Island. No one knows exactly what happened to them.

The first night we were at Easter Island, they showed a movie Rapa Nui starring Jason Scott Lee. It wasn’t a great movie but was filmed on Easter Island and showed the construction of the Maoi and the Birdman culture which was an important part of their life.

The most surprising thing to us was how Easter Island has developed. Guess we expected the bare basics with few amenities – NOT! There were 7,750 full-time inhabitants on Easter Island in 2017 according to Chilean census but there is considerably more now due to rapid growth and expansion. There are a number of hotels and resorts from luxury $1,000+ night spas to more reasonable accommodations – check out Booking or Hotel.com! It is “out of the way”, but there is an airport and during the Winter there is a large tourist trade with Chilean’s (and other South Americans) flying in to get away from the cold.

There is limited Cruise traffic. Our Captain said three ships visited in month of January – one a week ago and a Costa ship about three days behind us. Unfortunately for them, the weather pattern is changing, and they anticipate 6 – 12-foot swells when they are there – not Tender weather.

The next adventure is Tahiti, 1,000+ miles to go.