I visited this top WHS in 2023 staying on the island for 9 nights, 10 days and renting a car. Since post-COVID there is quite an annoying rule that to visit most moai/historic sites around the island you have to be accompanied by a local guide who will be responsible for your actions, I was almost inclined to cancel my rental car reservation and just go for a couple of half or full day trips around the main sites.

Well, at least when I visited, although it is advertised everywhere that you need a local guide, in reality you just need a local with you who needs to be registered in advance. Most B&Bs, hotels and shops have enough guides to cater for all the tourists who visit the island; only the transportation is lacking and can also increase the costs or limit your changes/adaptations to the itinerary agreed with your "guide", so finally we opted for a rental car for the whole stay. With that in mind, I'm really glad we went for the good deal offered by the B&B itself for a rental car, as we were totally free to explore the island at any time of the day, go swimming in different places, go hiking in different places, go dining without the hassle of walking in muddy areas or getting stressed because of the many stray dogs around, etc.

Organizing the local guided tours with your accommodation can be much more expensive than if you organise everything via a shop/restaurant, so don't commit to paying everything upfront. First of all, the weather can be unpredictable and varies a lot in the same day and from one side to the other of the island, although it is quite small overall. So, if you have enough days, you'll want to make sure you make the best use of your single entry to Orongo, Rano Raraku, Ahu Akivi and Ahu Tongariki by visiting on a sunny day, and with the best light on the moai (AM/PM), thus avoiding the unnecessary extra costs of repeated local guide services and/or having to buy an extra ticket to revisit (unless you specifically want to revisit during your stay and don't mind paying again which is totally allowed of course!). Each entry (especially to the 4 single entry sites) is stamped and sometimes signed on your ticket to make sure you only visit once per ticket (valid for 10 days).

The main reason quoted for this is to avoid cumulative impact as well as to make sure that the allowed perimeters are respected. If truth be told, if you time your visits with sunny weather and good lighting, Ahu Akivi, Orongo and Rano Raraku (all best to visit PM) are doable as single entry visits but in my opinion the latter two are possibly THE sites that require most time to visit every detail and take in the surroundings. The same applies to Ahu Tongariki (best time to visit with light on moai faces is PM; but most popular time for silhouettes is sunrise). NB: it is allowed to visit Ahu Tongariki in the PM + revisit inside for sunrise only or vice versa, however, most guides and the rules displayed at the national park don't mention this, thus the vast majority of tours visit AM only. Even if you're truly only allowed to enter the site proper once, in my opinion the best spots for photography at sunrise are from outside the Ahu Tongariki perimeter (no ticket needed!).

Being such a remote island with limited amounts of tourists, I wanted to cover most if not all the moai/historic sites at leisure, so I communicated mostly via whatsapp to meet/pick up the local guide whenever I wanted to enter a cluster of sites. Keep in mind that mobile/internet coverage is poor or non-existent around Anakena/Ovahe (best to visit early AM), so without a rental car you'll have to prebook everything in advance with fixed times and itineraries most of the time. In my case, being based near Tahai (best to visit around sunset), I grouped the sites as follows: Vinapu, Orongo and Ahu Akivi as one very relaxed PM trip; one full day east coast trip to the several minor sites (including Hanga Hahave, Hanga Poukura, Vaihu, Hanga Hua Reva, Ura Uranga Te Mahina, Akahanga, Hanga Tetenga, Hanga Maihiku, One Makihi, Hanga Tu'u Hata, Papa Tataku Poki), Rano Raraku and Ahu Tongariki (including some more minor sites such as Pu'o Hiro, Hanga Taharoa, Ahu Ra'ai, Ahu Keki'i, Papa Vaka and Te Pito Kura); one half day (very muddy!) hiking trip to Ana Te Pora, Ana Kakenga, Motu Tautara and Ana Te Pahu; and one half day hiking trip to Te Hereke, Hanga O'Pea, Hanga Omohi, Vaimatá and Hanga Oteo. The minor sites around Hanga Roa, as well as Tahai, Anakena and Ovahe can be visited any time, without requiring a local guide (this is great for swimming and watching sunset without the need of a guided tour, although I don't think anyone who decides to travel so far and at such a cost, would be willing to "tick" this WHS merely by visiting only these sites and doing a quick drive through around the island, just to avoid paying for a guided tour, even though I saw it happen notwithstanding the new rules!).

Unfortunately, the only mention of UNESCO is its symbol next to the national park's symbol at the 4 single entry sites. There used to be an old stainless steel inscription plaque at Tahai but it has been removed. That said, the OUV of this WHS to me was evident mostly at the single entry sites but also at other minor sites especially those with rock art, and the beautiful surroundings and size of the national park compared to the size of the whole island make it a top WHS, and although the new rules are a bit over the top and severely limit independent travel, there's still some leeway to allow a very pleasant visit while still observing the rules. If you'd like to get a free cool passport stamp, head to the tourist office as the postal office is no longer offering this service.