Easter Island
Few places on earth are as mysterious or compelling as Easter Island. The giant stone figures known as moai oversee this remote island 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile. Most of Rapa Nui, as it’s known to the locals, is a national park. Not only is it hard to get to Easter Island, it is notoriously difficult to access the park after the sun goes down. But we will be taking a lucky group of fellow night photographers on this rare opportunity of spending an unforgettable week with the moai.
Tour Gallery
Tour Details
This is a 7-night, 8-day photography tour. Including travel days to and from the island, it is a 9-night trip, and you’ll be arriving home on the tenth day.
February 12-19, 2023
$7,995 in single standard hotel room.
$14,995 for two people sharing a standard hotel room.
Skill level
Open to all who have at least a basic understanding of the principles of photography.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
Park website
Tour Leaders
February 21-28, 2023
$7,995 in single standard hotel room. $14,995 for two people sharing a standard hotel room.
$8,495 in single bungalow. $15,895 for two people sharing a bungalow.
Skill level
Open to all who have at least a basic understanding of the principles of photography.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
Park website
Tour Leaders
Registration
This event has passed. Thanks for your interest!
In 2023 we will run two photo tours to Easter Island. The tours will both run in February with nearly identical itineraries, but will be hosted at different hotels.
Session 1: February 12-19, 2023
Based at the family-run Hotel Taura’a. All rooms are standard. Your deposit of $1,995 is required to reserve your spot on the tour. If you are sharing your room with a friend or partner, an additional deposit of $1,000 is required.
The second and final payment of $6,000 (single) or $12,000 (couple) is due on November 12, 2022.
Session 2: February 21-28, 2023
Based at the Taha Tai hotel. We have two different types of accommodation; standard rooms and bungalows. We have reserved six of each, and they are available on a first come, first served basis. See further below for what is and is not included with your ticket.
Your deposit of $1,995 for a standard room or $2,495 for a bungalow is required to reserve your spot on the tour. If you are sharing your room with a friend or partner, an additional deposit of $1,500 is required.
The second and final payment of $6,000 (single) or $12,000 (couple) is due on November 21, 2022.
General Note
There are no refunds after the final payment due date, but you may send someone in your place if you are unable to attend. (That would be very sad.) In that case, you will be responsible for full payment and for collecting any reimbursement from your surrogate. All other terms of our cancellation and refund policy remain the same. Trip cancellation insurance is required for this adventure.
| This year we have two different types of accommodation; standard rooms and bungalows. We have reserved six of each, and they are available on a first come, first served basis. See further below for what is and is not included with your ticket. Your deposit of $1,995 for a standard room or $2,495 for a bungalow is required to reserve your spot on the tour. If you are sharing your room with a friend or partner, an additional deposit of $1,500 is required. A second payment of of $6,000 (single) or $9,000 (couple) is due on December 9, 2022. There are no refunds after the pay-in-full due date, but you may send someone in your place if you are unable to attend. (That would be very sad.) In that case, you will be responsible for full payment and being reimbursed by your surrogate. All other terms of our cancellation and refundpolicy remain the same. You must have trip cancellation insurance for this adventure. |
| • Deposit of $1,995 is required to reserve as a single in a standard room. |
| • Deposit of $3,495 is required to reserve as a couple in a standard room. |
| • Deposit of $2,495 is required to reserve as a single in a bungalow. |
| • Deposit of $3,995 is required to reserve as a couple in a bungalow. |
| • Final payment of $6,000 (single) or $9,000 (couple) is due on December 9, 2022. —>Make final payment here. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is December 8, 2022 (see cancellation and refund policy). |
The Rapa Nui Experience
This photo tour will feature long days and nights with intense periods of photography. It's not a workshop—there will be no formal classroom instruction or lectures. We will be photographing day and night. This is not to say that it won't be a learning experience, but the first and foremost goal of this trip is to provide you with a safe, comfortable and organized opportunity to create images of this exotic location. You'll be working closely with people of varying levels of photographic experience, and we'll all learn from each other while making friends along the way.
We will be traveling with a local guide who is both a photographer and also knowledgeable about the archeology and the fascinating history of Rapa Nui. We will be doing an extended hike to some of the more remote archeological sites on the island. We may also hike up to the highest point on the island for panoramic views in all directions. You should be in good physical condition to take advantage of everything that this trip has to offer, but you may opt out of the hikes and spend the day at the beach instead.
We will do some daytime long exposures of the moai, clouds and water with neutral density filters. Gabe and Matt will help in the field for those who are unfamiliar with this technique, and we will advise what to bring well in advance so that you have time to both acquire and practice using it.
Night photography will be a big part of the trip. It is unusual for tour groups to have nighttime access to the moai on Easter Island, and we are among the fortunate few who do. There are strict rules about approaching these fragile archeological sites, and we are expected to adhere to them. We will always be accompanied by a local guide while in the park after dark.
The trip is suited for people of all photographic levels except absolute beginners. You should have a solid understanding of your camera controls and menus, and of the exposure triad (the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO).
What You Should Know
Participants must have at least basic photo skills, know their cameras well, and be comfortable shooting RAW in manual mode with a DSLR or high-end mirrorless camera.
If you would like to attend this tour but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-trip tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Alternatively or additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-trip reads.
What You Will Learn
As this is a photo tour rather than a workshop, the emphasis is getting participants to great locations with great light, and making sure that everyone has the trip of a lifetime. We figure that you don’t travel to Easter Island very often, and you wouldn’t want to spend your time in a classroom! This trip is primarily about making great images of a truly unique location.
That said, we do encourage you to think about and set goals for the trip.
What would you like to gain from this experience?
great images?
lasting memories?
a break from the work-a-day stresses?
new photography skills?
The instructors will be available for one-on-one guidance in the field as much as time permits, and you can pull us aside during quieter moments to check out your images if you’d like. What you make of this is up to you, but we encourage you to think about it ahead of time.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Ticket Info
Included:
seven nights in accommodations with private bath on Easter Island
all transportation on Easter Island in the tour van
entrance fee to Rapa Nui National Park, day and night
the services of a local guide to teach us about the history of Easter Island
all breakfasts and dinners, and three lunches during the tour
Not Included:
international flights to and from Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
additional lodging in Santiago
meals other than those mentioned above
alcoholic beverages
tips to local guides
Travel: February 12-19 Trip
Your adventure begins with an overnight flight to Santiago on February 10 or 11; you will land on February 11 or 12. Depending on your arrival time into Santiago, you’ll either spend the night at the Holiday Inn at the airport or connect the same day to Easter Island—whichever travel schedule suits you better.
The tour will be based at the family-run Hotel Taura’a on Easter Island. The hotel is a 5-minute drive from the airport, a 5-minute walk from the center of town and a 5-minute walk from the ocean. Delicious breakfasts at the hotel are included.
We will spend the nights of February 12 to 18 on Easter Island, and will return to Santiago on February 19 in the afternoon. You can connect to an overnight flight the same day or spend another night in Santiago.
Travel: February 21-28 Trip
Your adventure begins with an overnight flight to Santiago on February 19 or 20; you will land on February 20 or 21. Depending on your arrival time into Santiago, you’ll either spend the night at the Holiday Inn at the airport or connect the same day to Easter Island—whichever travel schedule suits you better.
The tour will be based at the Taha Tai hotel on Easter Island. The hotel is close to the ocean, has a pool, and is a 5-minute drive from the airport and a 5-minute walk from the center of town. The hotel offers standard rooms and slightly larger and nicer bungalows. Breakfasts at the hotel are included.
We will spend the nights of February 21 to 27 on Easter Island, and will return to Santiago on February 28 in the afternoon. You can connect to an overnight flight the same day or spend another night in Santiago.
General Travel Info
There are U.S.-based nonstop flights to Santiago from New York, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles, and one-stop flights from many major North American airports including Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Las Vegas.
You are responsible for booking your flights from your home airport to and from Easter Island. Only two flights per day run from Santiago to Easter Island, and they do sell out in advance. Once flight schedules have been announced, we will email you with recommended connecting flights from Santiago to Easter Island. You should book your flights as soon as possible to ensure the best connections.
Food
All dinners are included during our time on Easter Island. We will have a Rapa Nui-style picnic at one of the Moai sites on our first night, and dinner at a different restaurant on the other nights. Three lunches are also included: two packed lunches and one sit-down meal at a restaurant. All other lunches are not included.
Weather
The climate of Easter Island is warm and humid. It will still be high summer when we are there, which means temperatures ranging from 68 to 80 F on average, although it may be as high as 90. It rains frequently, with an average of 3 inches of rain in March, one of the driest months of the year. The ocean water temperature is comparable to the air temperature, and therefore perfect for swimming.
Recommended Attire
Lightweight clothing that can be layered is advised. If you wear T-shirts, a 3-to-1 ratio of short- to long-sleeve is about right. You should bring a lightweight raincoat, convertible hiking pants, good quality hiking shoes, and a pair of sturdy sandals such as Tevas. A bathing suit or two. A fleece jacket or pullover is all you will need for outerwear aside from the rain shell. Dress is generally casual, but a couple of options for nicer restaurants is advised.
Exertion
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy, with Active options. (See more about our classifications.)
You’ll want to be in decent physical condition so you can participate in all of the adventures available in this location. There are several long hikes to experience some of the more remote archeological sites. None of the hikes would be considered strenuous, but the longest is almost 10 miles round trip. You are welcome to skip any of these hikes if you feel they are beyond your abilities, and we reserve the right to limit the hikes to people we and our guide believe are adequately fit. If you change your mind midway through a hike, we will not be able to escort you back to the hotel.
Additional Information
Bring electrical adapters for the standard European outlets: two round pins, 220V.
Please read our FAQs section for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our tours and workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
Looking forward to a return ...
If you considered our first Easter Island trip in 2019, and read the story about how that trip came to be, you may recall that it took a long time for all of the pieces to fall into place. Let me rephrase that––it took a long time to force all of the square pegs we had into the round holes that presented themselves. It was a monumental task, but boy, was it worth it.
As it turned out, we had a great experience with minimal hiccups, and found a great local tour company to partner with. Marc Shields of Green Island Tours already had some nighttime access to Rapa Nui National Park, and had been leading some stargazing and astronomy programs for his own clients, but was interested in doing an astrophotography event as well. When I came across his website, I’d been close to giving up on the possibility of running the trip. We seemed to have a good rapport, and he was confident he could get us the access we needed.
Here we are three years after a successful first trip, with plans in place to make it even better this time.
One of the unexpected bonuses of this ongoing adventure was making new friends along the way. I made a great connection with Marc, and know that we will be friends as well as colleagues going forward. It was one of Marc’s employees, a charming young Rapa Nui named Toke Rau (pronounced toe-kay), who was pretty much everyone’s favorite person that we met there. Toke is one of those people whose spirit just continuously emits positive energy, and no one was impervious to it. Toke had even planned to give me some surfing lessons, but the waves didn’t cooperate. I’m going to make sure it happens next time.
