Tendering Challenges Add to Thrill of Seeing Easter Island Moai

Days 18-19, 2025 Grand World Voyage

Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 21-22, 2025; Hanga Piko, Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

There might be more remote spots on earth, but not many, and not with the mystery and magic of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island as it is known elsewhere. Even Britannica (as in the encyclopedia people) says it may be the most isolated place on the planet, 2,340 miles west of Santiago, Chile, and 1,300 miles east of Pitcairn Island. (More on Pitcairn later – it’s our next port.)

As a territory of Chile, Easter Island remains in that South America country’s time zone, speaks its Spanish language (in addition to native Rapa Nui and English) and benefits from twice-daily scheduled flights from Santiago. So its tourism isn’t dependent on cruise ships, which is a good thing as there are only 15 cruise ship stops on this year’s calendar.

That remoteness also means that nothing mitigates the ocean currents, swells and winds before arriving at the triangle-shaped island of 63 square miles. There is no harbor or bay. So we crossed our fingers that the swells and winds would be small and from a favorable direction on our two days here – and we were lucky. These are the only two days with conditions possible for tendering ashore within the week, the captain said.

Because of the variable sea conditions, world cruisers always worry that we won’t be able to go ashore at Easter Island. Yet statistics indicate that 19 of every 20 cruises are successful in getting their passengers ashore. Many of those ships are smaller and thus have a less daunting challenge, and we figure that is why Holland America scheduled an overnight stop, improving our odds.

I’m now 2 for 2 in this port (as compared to the Falkland Islands, where I am 0 for 2). The tendering conditions, particularly getting between the ship’s tender platform and the small boats that took us ashore, seemed much more difficult this time than during my first visit in 2020. In previous visits, the bigger challenge has been for the tender drivers navigating the narrow rocky entrance to the small boat harbor.

Our experience last week in Manta, Ecuador, when swells caused the ship to leave the dock and tender passengers back, set the stage for our preparations.

Not only would five or six crew members help each of us step between the platform and the tender, but we would need to go down two flights of stairs before reaching the platform. If you couldn’t handle the stairs, you couldn’t handle the transfer. Holland America is very dedicated to making the ship and its activities accessible to those with mobility issues, but in this case, they didn’t want to take any chances. And having experienced the jerking and heaving conditions at the platform transfer, I understand the concern.

Because I had a ship’s tour, I didn’t have to get a tender ticket to go ashore or to return. No one has priority tendering here. But once people had their tender ticket, they could wait anywhere on the ship, so it seemed to me the process went smoothly.

My tour to see the island and the moai statues strewn across it didn’t start until early afternoon on the first day. Just as in 2020, the buses were small and our guide jumped between two of them, as there were more tours than guides.

We followed the exact route as five years ago, stopping to see the only moai with an eye restoration, then visiting the quarry where the huge statues were created before being transported throughout the island. Many are left partially buried on the hillside.

The iconic Ahu Tongariki monument with its 15 moai statues is probably the most popular stop for those who venture beyond the town.

I tried sketching while there, but the air was too damp from an earlier shower. So I sketched and painted back on the ship.

As we drove around the island, we saw many of the free-range horses that are said to outnumber residents and ended our tour with a stop at Anakena Beach before heading back to catch the last tenders to the ship.

One of my favorite memories from my previous visit was sitting on a restaurant deck after our tour, drinking pisco sours while waiting for the tender lines to abate. Our late return prevented me from repeating that experience. Rather than go back ashore on our second day, I relaxed on board recovering from a head cold that always seems to go around the world cruise.

This has been a lazy part of our cruise, with four sea days between Lima and Easter Island and another two after this on our way to Pitcairn Island. I’ve enjoyed a few lectures and talks, warm afternoons on the balcony, planning port calls on future cruises and meeting friends for happy hour drinks. Long computer hours closing out my 2024 financial files and planning for 2025 wasn’t as much fun. But some chores never go away.