Easter Island diving

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Diving Easter Island

Easter Island – pristine diving in stunningly clear waters.

Easter Island is a territory of Chile and is almost 4000 kilometers (2485 miles) from the mainland, in the southeast Pacific. You can dive all year round, but it can get rough between June and September. You perhaps wouldn’t make the trip just for the diving, but once there it is a must.

Sealife

All the waters surrounding Easter Island are a marine protected area. This covers 740,000 square kilometers (286,000 square miles) of ocean – one of the largest in the world. It protects a greater percentage of indigenous species of fish, molluscs and sponges than the waters around the Galapagos Islands. This is because ocean currents form a natural barrier to this isolated island, facilitating the evolution of many distinct species. The seas are also the location of spawning grounds for many pelagic species like sharks, tuna, sharks and swordfish. You won’t find the quantities of reef fish you might elsewhere in the pacific but the coral is extensive and much of the sealife unique.

When to go

The average water temperature in summer (from December to March) is 23 ^oC. This is the best time to go. In the winter months between June and August you may get heavy rain and storms, and the water is colder – down to or below 20 ^oC. Take a full wetsuit, 7 mm, hood & gloves in the colder months. If you plan to hire a wetsuit, take a rash guard top for underneath. It really does make a difference.

Language and currency

The local name for Easter Island is Rapa Nui. The native language is also called Rapa Nui, or Pascuan, although Spanish is more widely spoken. They use the Chilean peso; US dollars and Euros may also be accepted in places. The two banks, Banco Estado and Banco Santander, change currencies and accept Mastercard and Visa.

Insurance & Medical

Take out comprehensive insurance before you travel. The nearest decompression chamber is on Chile, 4000 km away.

“Easter Island may offer an opportunity for a diving get away for everyone. As one of the most remote places on Earth the marine ecosystem has been better preserved than elsewhere in the world and will give you the chance for some quiet, solitary diving experiences.

Some of the most popular diving spots around the island include Hanga Roa Bay and its population of turtles, Moto Nui and the Moai dive site. Due to the temperatures a thicker wetsuit will be required, but a huge visibility of up to 200 feet more than makes up for that.”

Robert Lovell

The Moai Site

The Moai dive is shallow, under 10 m, and close to the marina. The moai in question was a prop for the 1994 film Rapa-Nui, produced by Kevin Costner. Even so, it is interesting to dive it.

The Cathedral

A dive through caverns and lava tubes created by one of the three long-extinct volcanos.

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