Easter Island Visitor’s Guide - Page 19

The tour agencies listed on the Visitor Guide’s pages are not necessarily recommended by the EIF. They are provided here for your convenience. Some are associated with hotels or other accommodations whereas others are stand-alone organizations, though it's not uncommon on the island for one business to associate with, and "borrow" the services of, another.

Prices for services vary greatly depending on variety of factors. For example, December to March is "high" season and prices are much higher. In the austral Winter (June-August), few tourists are on the island so prices are lower. It also depends on what your requirements are, how long you're planning to stay, and what you plan to do. Tour agencies on Easter Island can do anything from making basic recommendations to booking accommodations, vehicle rental, tours, etc.

While we have included addresses of the tour agencies, there are few street signs and, recently, the names of two of the main streets were switched (we swear we are not making this up). So hotels that were on Policarpo Toro Street are now located on Atamu Tekena Street (and vice versa) although they have not physically moved. This is very "Rapanui," and very confusing. Islanders don't use street names (this is a Western concept), just the name of the establishment.

Spanish is spoken on the island, along with some English and a little French and German (depending on the business). There are at least 15 formal tour agencies. Some have e-mail, others have URLs for the Web, some have both. Many locations have a dual phone/fax number; some do not have a fax at all. Bear in mind that businesses on the island, phone and fax numbers, Web URLs, and e-mail addresses are subject to change. Be patient and persistent if you don't receive a response the first time.

You can direct dial to Easter Island. From the USA, dial 011-56 (for Chile); 32 (for the area), followed by the number 2 (the addition of the number 2 is a development effective August 5, 2006), and then the number listed below. Nearly all Island phone numbers begin with "100", although a newer batch of numbers now begins with the prefix "551".

This page is updated regularly by readers and island operators. Please notify us of any needed corrections.

Note: Bold entries in the "www/e-mail" column are clickable links. The WWW links will take you to the Web site of the tour agency. The e-mail links will launch your default e-mail client (e.g., Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora).

name

location

phone

fax

www

e-mail

SERNATUR

(Chilean tourist agency)

Tu“u Makehe

p: 100-255

f: [none]

www.sernatur.cl