Ahu Akahanga
Ahu Akahanga
4.5
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Plan your visit
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
Restaurants
3 within 3 miles
Attractions
24 within 6 miles
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
556 reviews
Excellent
291
Very good
191
Average
72
Poor
2
Terrible
0
Bill M
Springfield, MO305 contributions
Jan 2020
The ancient tribal site of Ahu Akahanga on the south coast of the island has a restored ancestral village on its west end closest to town. There are stone foundations of several hare paenga or boat-houses, so called because of their elliptical shape reminiscent of a ship, where the old inhabitants lived. Our tour guides took us early so we could see the chickens emerge from their stone coop which was cute.
The eastern side is where the Ahu Akahanga stands in front of the sea. This large 60 foot platform has not been restored, illustrating how the ahu were first discovered.
In most destroyed platforms, the statues lie face down. However, in Ahu Akahanga, the 13 mo’ai, (between 16 and 23 feet in size) were knocked down both face-up and face-down making their features and carving more visible as you can get right up to them.
The eastern side is where the Ahu Akahanga stands in front of the sea. This large 60 foot platform has not been restored, illustrating how the ahu were first discovered.
In most destroyed platforms, the statues lie face down. However, in Ahu Akahanga, the 13 mo’ai, (between 16 and 23 feet in size) were knocked down both face-up and face-down making their features and carving more visible as you can get right up to them.
Written February 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sachin K
New York City, NY6,556 contributions
Dec 2019 • Family
This attraction is an interesting one and different from other attractions. One can see an ahu(platform) in ruins with all of its moai fallen face down or on their backs, most likely toppled after the clan wars.
At the entrance to this site one will see some well-preserved ruins of an ancient village with a number of earth ovens (umu pae), the boat-houses (hare vaka) as well as some paved areas which will show you a little of how the people of Rapa Nui used to live. Very close to here you will also find a small cave that was used as shelter for those who did not have a boat house.
Behind the main ahu, one will find another moai that has been toppled as well as an unusually small moais that would have been one of the first ones to be built. Certainly would very highly recommend visiting this attraction to any traveler and especially those who are eager to have an off beat experience on Easter Island.
At the entrance to this site one will see some well-preserved ruins of an ancient village with a number of earth ovens (umu pae), the boat-houses (hare vaka) as well as some paved areas which will show you a little of how the people of Rapa Nui used to live. Very close to here you will also find a small cave that was used as shelter for those who did not have a boat house.
Behind the main ahu, one will find another moai that has been toppled as well as an unusually small moais that would have been one of the first ones to be built. Certainly would very highly recommend visiting this attraction to any traveler and especially those who are eager to have an off beat experience on Easter Island.
Written November 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy F
Devizes, UK1,397 contributions
Nov 2024 • Friends
There are lots of sites on Easter Island that are absolutely fascinating, but I don't think that this is one of them. There's a ruined apu (platform) with some face-down toppled statues, there's a cave, there's evidence of habitations and a cooking hearth. But, frankly, it's just a lot of stones in the earth. You need the info boards and back-story to even realise what you're looking at. Short visit only I'd recommend.
Written November 30, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ron S
New York City, NY5,927 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
Ahu Akahanga is a very busy site as it lies along the way to Rano Ranaku and Tongariki so all tourist buses stop here. The site features a few fallen moai which were destroyed as a result of a war on the island according to our guide whose presence is mandatory for you to enter the site. Some 500 feet to the south of the ahu there's another one, namely Ahu Ura Uranga. You can walk there if the entry not restricted as it may be due to the archaeological works.
Written May 10, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bukagirl
New Jersey4,230 contributions
Jan 2020 • Solo
Ancient ruins and houses, you can visualize how the Rapa Nui lived.
See the tumbled Moai, best to see with a guide to explain the history.
See the tumbled Moai, best to see with a guide to explain the history.
Written January 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Best food best hotel
Hong Kong, China6,101 contributions
Aug 2019 • Family
We came here right after we watched sunrise.. Seashore is truly stunning, the surrounding is surrealistically beautiful.
I had no interested to those broken moai but please come here to see the beauty of the sea either before or after sunrise. You will be amazed!
If you have a tourist guide, please ask him to call bring you here early in the morning and let you release a house of chicken from the Inka chicken house. You will like it. Only the earliest bird get the worm as there are only very few chicken
houses. Once the chicken is released, you can only see empty chicken house.
I had no interested to those broken moai but please come here to see the beauty of the sea either before or after sunrise. You will be amazed!
If you have a tourist guide, please ask him to call bring you here early in the morning and let you release a house of chicken from the Inka chicken house. You will like it. Only the earliest bird get the worm as there are only very few chicken
houses. Once the chicken is released, you can only see empty chicken house.
Written August 23, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EdoSal
Santiago, Chile222 contributions
Sep 2019
There are a lot of traces of the Rapanui civilization here, so you would need to have a good guide to understand better what you are looking at. Quite interesting, it is fascinating to understand a little bit more about this mysterious civilization. Don't miss it!!
Written September 15, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SharksSupporter1
Ballito, South Africa529 contributions
Nov 2017 • Friends
It was raining heavily during our visit and we were a bit rushed but the statues are awesome and well worth visiting
Written December 12, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Travelin_Salsa
Toronto, Canada21 contributions
Aug 2016 • Solo
Amazing to see the scale of this and get a sense of how hard it was to put all of this together, considering the tools available and the distances to cross.
Written September 7, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rowan H
Cairns, Australia1,721 contributions
Nov 2015 • Couples
Ahu Akahanga is located around halfway between hanga roa and Ahu Tongariki on Easter Island's southern coastal road. It features around a dozen moai, which like it's relative Vaihu up the road have not been restored and/or re-erected. In the dying days of the Rapi Nui civil wars broke out and the Moai were all deliberately toppled over by rival tribes as it was believed by overlooking the villages they were erected next to they conferred protection of their inhabitants. Only 50 of the 288 erected Moai on the island have since been re-erected. As such the Ahu and it's Moai at Akahanga lie derelict, which is disappointing as the Moai seem to be in fairly good condition. It's interesting to see these before viewing the great Ahu Tongariki as it's like seeing the 'before' and 'after' photos.
Interestingly Ahu Akahanga is also known as the 'king's platform' as it is believed that the first king of the island, Ariki Hotu Matu'a who landed on Anakena is buried here - although this hasn't been supported by archaeological excavations.
It's worth visiting on the way down the coastal road, as like everything in easter island it isn't far and won't consume too much of your time. It won't however be the highlight of your visit.
Please take the time to rate my review
Interestingly Ahu Akahanga is also known as the 'king's platform' as it is believed that the first king of the island, Ariki Hotu Matu'a who landed on Anakena is buried here - although this hasn't been supported by archaeological excavations.
It's worth visiting on the way down the coastal road, as like everything in easter island it isn't far and won't consume too much of your time. It won't however be the highlight of your visit.
Please take the time to rate my review
Written January 18, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing