At the Ahu Hanga Roa site are a grouping of five restored moai situated right by the ocean. This is the closest major site to the town harbor of Hanga Roa. 

Moai are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people. Almost all moai have overly large heads three-eighths the size of the whole statue. The moai are chiefly the living faces (aringa ora) of deified ancestors (aringa ora ata tepuna). The statues still gazed inland across their clan lands when Europeans first visited the island, but most were cast down during later conflicts between clans.