Tahai Is Free, Tongariki Costs $100
Ahu Tahai costs nothing and needs no guide. Ahu Tongariki, less than half an hour from Hanga Roa, needs a $100 ticket and an accredited guide standing beside you the entire time. Sightseeing on this island splits cleanly into free and paid, and almost nobody explains that split before you land.
The free side: Rano Kau and Tahai
The rim of Rano Kau, a 1.6-kilometer volcanic caldera holding a freshwater lake tangled in floating totora reeds, delivers one of the most dramatic panoramas on the island and sits right at the edge of Hanga Roa. The Ahu Tahai complex, with its restored Ahu Ko Te Riku (the only moai on the island with coral-and-obsidian eyes reinstalled), is the town’s open, guide-free sunset gathering spot. Neither requires a park ticket to view from the outside.
The paid side: everything inside the park boundary
Rapa Nui National Park admission runs $100 USD for international adults as of October 2025, up from the $80 many older guides still quote, and it buys 10 consecutive days of access. Inside that boundary sit Ahu Tongariki (15 restored moai facing inland, the premier sunrise shot on the island), the Rano Raraku quarry where most moai were carved, Orongo’s ceremonial stone village, and Anakena’s Ahu Nau Nau. All of them require an accredited guide by law; wandering in on your own is not an option regardless of ticket status.
The single-entry catch that trips people up
Rano Raraku and Orongo permit exactly one entry each on that 10-day ticket. Show up, leave, and decide to come back the next morning for better light, and you will be buying an entirely new $100 ticket to do it. Plan your one visit to each around the light and weather you actually want, because there is no second chance built into the price.
Timing the free stuff
Sunrise at Tongariki means leaving Hanga Roa in the dark on unlit rural roads, and horses sometimes sleep on the pavement, so drive slowly. Sunset at Tahai needs no such planning: show up, sit on the grass, and watch the silhouettes of Ahu Vai Uri and Ahu Ko Te Riku against the water.
Verdict: budget your park ticket around Tongariki, Rano Raraku, and Orongo since those are the sites you are actually paying for, and treat Tahai and the Rano Kau rim as the free bookend to every day. For the full monument-by-monument breakdown of what’s inside that $100 ticket, see attraction tours on Easter Island .