Private Tour: 2 Half Days & 1 Full Day Easter Island Essentials

We booked a private tour (two half-days and one full day) on Easter Island with Kavakava Tours. Our guide, Yisell, was very kind and genuinely tried her best to make us feel welcome while explaining the history behind the island's amazing sites. However, she struggled to communicate fluently in English. Since we specifically requested an English-speaking guide, this was disappointing - especially during the low season when we assumed other fluent guides would be available. Additionally, given that the tour was quite expensive, we expected a higher attention to detail. For example, during the sunrise tour, other companies provided folding chairs and blankets for their guests, while ours didn't offer any extra comforts. Overall, it wasn't a bad tour, but for the premium price, we felt the experience and overall execution could have been better.

The tour was about three hours first day, the second day was full and busy (delicious lunch was included), and the third day was about three hours. This set up was perfect for us. Our first two days we had Mae as our tour guide and she was absolutely amazing! She is highly professional, very knowledgeable and passionate about the Rapa Nui history. We learned a lot with her!!! She gave us great advices about places to visit in the island and eat in the town. Also, she took a lot of great pictures of us! Mae is the kind of guide that makes memories of an adventure to last forever! ❤️❤️❤️ Unfortunately, for the third day we had a different guide. Completely different story. The person was disorganized, picked us up 30 minutes late and we almost missed the sunrise (which supposed to be a highlight of the day). The guide was not really a guide but a driver who took us from one place to another. Very limited interaction, almost no information. We were glad, Mae gave us heads up for the third day tour places and told a lot of stories, so we knew what are those places about. We don’t like to talk poorly about people. But for us visiting Easter Island was a Big Dream, once in lifetime opportunity. If we had that third day “driver” only as a tour guide, it would be a disaster. 😫 Mae made our memories bright and colorful. Because of her, Easter Island always will be in our hearts 🏝️❤️🙏🏻

Very much impressed to be guided history, culture and various statues. We are more than happy since It was possible to visit all points we had thought. Thaias, our guide was excellent.

Isa was our guide and she was really great. Tons of knowledge and keep a very good schedule. We saw and learned so much during the 3 days together. She's also kind and funny. This type of tour really covered the basics and more.

Hugo was our guide for 2 full and one half day tour (we missed the start due to late flight). He is a native and his love for his culture and island is undeniable. He arrived on time every time, drove us all over the island to see the best sites. His insight into the history of this almost lost culture was so helpful and allowed us to see the island's beauty, history and dream for it's future. Sunrise cannot be missed, but also humbling are seeing the statues fallen throughout the island.

Our tour guide, Ms. Thais, is very professional. She gave us a detailed introduction to each view, so that we can know the history of Easter Island, the life history and culture of the indigenous people on the island.

I must admit that I was skeptical of spending nearly our entire visit with a private guide, but let me tell you that it was entirely worth it. Forget the price—in addition to the fantastic and seemingly limitless information you get about Rapa Nui’s history along the way, you get recommendations on food and activities based on your location, schedule, and transportation. You don’t have to figure that stuff out in your own. Tokerau is a wealth of knowledge with a passion for his home and telling others about it. He also seems to know EVERYONE on the island, so riding around with him was almost as entertaining as the sites and hikes themselves. If you luck out with him as your guide, be ready with some country music suggestions :)

Our guide, Alberto, was terrific. He ensured that we saw what "WE" wanted rather than follow a strict itinerary. We wanted to do some shopping too and he fit it in for us. He even managed to do a bit of "trick" photography on our phones and make it look like we were standing with the statues. But the BEST part of the tour was the sunrise over the 15 Moai ! It seemed pricey when we booked it but for us, it was well worth it~!!

Wow! What a fantastic time we had touring around Rapa Nui with our knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and talented tour guide, Sebastian. We loved every minute learning about the history of Rapa Nui and visiting the historical sites. As well, Sebastian is compassionate. Once Sebastian learned I have reduced mobility (arthritic knees) he lugged a camping chair around so that I could rest when needed, and he offered me his arm when I needed help safely navigating over rough terrain. We highly recommend Kava Kava Tours for its professionalism, knowledge and excellent client service.

My family and I could not have asked for a better experience than the time that we spent on Rapa Nui with Hugo as our guide. We had planned for two nights on the island, and wanted to get the most out of our visit by booking this tour based on the time-aligned itinerary. What we hadn't planned for, and became very apparent early on in the tour, was the benefit of having an experienced local guide who brought to life the history of his ancestors. Though visiting places like Ahu Akivi, Rano Raraku and Orongo inspire thoughts of how the Rapa Nui people lived centuries ago, experiencing the sites in planned isolation and with the insight of lived experience and oral histories, in addition to scholarly research, created an incredible vision of the landscape. Hugo expertly coordinated our itinerary to miss hordes of cruise ship passengers, enabling this relative isolation and privacy to get the most out of each site. Hugo has participated in some of the ancient and current traditions of the island - including descending the rock cliff associated with the annual identification of the Tangata Manu of the Birdman cult and tobogganing down Haka Pei - and as such speaks directly to what the Rapa Nui people might have felt long ago. As is the case with current research, many questions remain on why Rapa Nui is the way it is, which adds to the mysticism of the landscape. Combined with the Rapa Nui people's expert stewardship of national park sites, each visit on the itinerary is awe inspiring. At each site, Hugo provides thorough facts and theories on what is visually observed, often commenting that the Rapa Nui people left clues on how or why they did things, such as the astronomical alignment of certain statues and the oral history that the statues 'walked' to where they were eventually placed on platforms. The tour ended with a sunrise visit to Ahu Tongariki - where Hugo once again displayed expert planning skills by placing us in a spot separate from other groups to better capture the location of the sunrise against the 15 moai. With Venus shining bigger and brighter than the stars in the background, one once again wonders what the Rapa Nui people might have felt towards such an event long ago. Thank you Hugo and Kava Kava Tours for such a wonderful three days - we highly recommend your services and hope to see you again sometime in the future to learn more about Rapa Nui.

Our tour guide Yo-yo was great! He was very knowledgeable and explained everything very nicely. He was always punctual. We were traveling with kids and he was very flexible and accommodated our request to start a few minutes late.

I did the 2 Half Days and 2 full Days tour. It covered the main parts of the Rapa Nui starting with an introduction to the Bird Man period and Rano Raraku. Next day we went back in time starting with discovery and the first settlement. The quarry and 4 generations of Moai was fascinating. The third day was a nice hike up Terevaka the highest point on the island and finished on my last day with a brilliant sunrise over the Tongariki Ahu. With limited time I left knowing I had seen the best parts. My guide Toke was amazing. He gave clear explanations about the history and culture from first settlement until today. I understood how the society changed due to different events that affected the island. Toke is very knowledgeable about all aspects of the island and its history and provided the alternate explanations that exist for many events. I was also given great recommendations about the best places to eat. Having a private tour means you get the best personal explanations. Thanks of making my visit so memorable

Most people might tell you that the the most memorable part of their visit was the statues. They are very iconic and for good reason, but the real takeaways were the history behind the island and it's culture. You'll have to find out for yourself though. There's just no way to explain what you're missing out on in this small amount of space. The value was there, the adventure was there, and the memory of this excursion will always be one of our favorites from around the world. Sebastian speaks fantastic English and does an excellent job giving you the information in a digestible way. You'll always know what happened where and why. This is a must do excursion!

I had the BEST experience ever! My guide and now friend, Tokerau (Wind) was just Fantastic. He is so knowledgeable, great personality and went beyond for me to have this unique experience on the island. Thank you again!!!

Our guide Tokerau was one of the best guides we’ve ever had! He made our experience amazing. He was very attentive, informative, accommodating and best of all had an amazing personality. I would highly recommend this tour because of the service he provided. We had a trip of a lifetime because of Tokerau.

My guide, Sebastian, did an outstanding job explaining the culture, history and anthropology of the island and of there Rapa Nui people. Rapa Nui himself, his passion for his people - on both a personal and a scholarly level - made every stop a fascinating window into the story of the island. I can't recommend KavaKava highly enough.

I recently returned from a trip to Rapa Nui and am still impressed. An amazing place with unique nature and history. My trip was quite spontaneous and short (3 full days), but KavaKavaTours helped me organize the perfect trip, all I had to do was relax and enjoy. The organization of the tour is really at a high level, the staff takes into account your wishes, offers options, in general, very polite, responsive, friendly staff. The tour is 100% worth the money. Everything is thought out to the smallest detail, the guides are professionals in their field with a storehouse of knowledge and answers to all questions, they give their best and treat the client with attention. I am very glad that I contacted this travel agency and recommend it to anyone who wants a high quality tour.

Toda la visita a sido muy instructiva, sobre todo en la cultura de los Rapa nui y los Moais. Y su particularidad de la isls

I recommend 1000% these tours. I went with some friends and they made us feel part of the island. Very concerned that we felt comfortable at all times, I learned a lot from the history of the island. Really grateful to have lived this experience with Seba, tremendous guide ✨

Everything excellent!! Highly recommended, thanks to all the tours we did with you we could understand and feel part of the island. I am very happy with everything you gave me in experience, knowledge and concern for the people who tour with you. Thank you so much!!