Dive Where They Filmed a Sunken Moai
Twenty meters down off Easter Island sits a moai that has nothing to do with ancient carvers. Divers placed it there in 1994 as a prop for Kevin Costner’s film Rapa Nui, and now it is one of the most talked-about dive sites in the South Pacific. That alone tells you this island’s water is worth suiting up for.
Visibility that ocean divers dream about
The Pacific around Easter Island runs 40 to 60 meters of visibility on a good day, a number most dive destinations never touch, because there is zero river runoff and next to no plankton this far from any continent. Orca Diving Center, founded back in 1980 by Henri and Michel Garcia (who worked alongside Jacques Cousteau), and Mike Rapu Diving Center, run by legendary local freediver Mike Rapu out of Caleta Hanga Roa Otai, both run PADI courses, cavern dives, and trips out to that submerged moai and the island’s dramatic lava archways.
Surfing that locals still keep quiet about
Reef breaks at Mataveri and the Hanga Roa harbor mouth deliver real intermediate-to-advanced waves, while Playa Pea offers a gentler beach break where beginners can actually learn without getting hammered on volcanic rock. Rent boards in Hanga Roa town; nobody is shipping a board this far into the Pacific for a week-long trip.
Paddling like the ancestors did
Sea kayaking and outrigger canoeing, waka ama in the Polynesian tradition, run along the volcanic cliffs off Hanga Roa harbor through local ocean sports clubs. It is a completely different angle on the coastline than diving or surfing gives you, low to the water and slow enough to actually take in the cliffs.
What to pack and watch for
Winter water temperatures drop to 19 to 21 degrees Celsius, so bring or rent a wetsuit if you are diving between June and August. The reefs here are sharp volcanic basalt, not soft coral, so booties matter for surfing and reef walking alike, and a scraped shin on lava rock heals a lot slower than one on sand.
Booking gear before you land
Bring your own mask and fins if you have them; rental stock on the island is limited and does not always run in every size. Dive shops and surf rentals cluster right in Hanga Roa town, an easy walk from most accommodation, so you do not need a car just to gear up for a water day.
Verdict: if you only do one adventure sport on this island, make it the dive to the submerged moai, since nowhere else on Earth pairs film-prop novelty with 40-plus meters of natural visibility. For the land-based version of this same adrenaline, the volcano trek and lava-tube crawling, check out adventure tours on Easter Island .