Rano Kau

Rano Kau is the largest of Rapa Nui's three main volcanoes, with a crater about 1,600 metres across and 200 deep, its floor filled by a freshwater lake broken into a mosaic of floating totora reed mats. The seaward wall has been eroded through, so from the rim the crater, the gap and the ocean line up. The crater floor is one of the island's few sheltered microclimates and was cultivated - figs, bananas and vines were grown down there out of the wind, in a place where wind otherwise governs everything. Orongo stands on the rim, and the walk up from Hanga Roa is a straightforward two hours.

What you actually see

• A crater 1,600 metres across - the island's largest volcano.
• A lake of floating reed mats - totora across the crater floor.
• A wall breached to the sea - crater, gap and ocean in one line.
• A sheltered growing place - cultivated out of the wind.

When to go

Year round. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Descending into the crater is prohibited. The rim is fully exposed and the wind is constant. Cloud sits in the crater often. The walk up from town is uphill in sun with no shade.

Nearby

Orongo is on the rim; Hanga Roa is below.