Ahu Tongariki Sunrise Walk
Witness the iconic dawn light strike the fifteen moai of Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial platform on the island, backed by the Pacific Ocean.
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Ahu Tongariki Access Road
Arrive before dawn via the road from Hanga Roa; the pre-sunrise silence at this remote eastern platform is profound and otherworldly.
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Fifteen Moai Platform
The fifteen moai of Tongariki — the largest ahu ever erected — stand in a dramatic line, their backs to the sea, gazing inland over the island.
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Sunrise Light on Moai
At dawn the rising sun strikes the moai from behind the platform, creating a silhouette before warm light slowly illuminates their carved stone faces.
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Reconstructed Platform Base
The ahu was devastated by a 1960 tsunami that scattered the moai inland; a Japanese crane team painstakingly restored it between 1992 and 1996.
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Fallen Moai Display
Near the platform, a toppled moai left unrestored shows the scale of the destruction, its enormous size only apparent when seen lying on the ground.
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Poike Peninsula View
Look east toward the Poike volcanic peninsula, the oldest part of the island, and the wide Pacific from which Polynesian voyagers first arrived.