Waitomo Glowworm Caves

"We had an excellent guide T a young male (hiatus name Chris). Our group that we were with however weren’t so good, with the disturbances and doing the opposite to what they were told. Would definitely go back however would be looking at a more private tour."

"I hadn't seen glowworms in over 50 years since I did a class field trip from Orewa up to a private farm near Puhoi, so this was a special blast from the past for me. More fantastic for my companion as he had never seen glowworms. I especially like the pupae cave where the larvae had their food catchers dangling. Shame that pictures cant be taken, but I totally understand how that would be a massive problem. Well worth doing to see something you may have never seen before. Our guide also sang to us in the echo cave and she was very good."

"Couldn’t wait to see the glow worms. Tickets are available online or in person. There is parking but it’s located down a steep hill. Ok for us but some struggled a bit walking to the facility. The tours are timed. We took just the boat tour through the cave. This was actually more of a walk into the cave with a guide, learn a few things about caves, there are groups just a cavern or so apart and at the end you get in a boat for about 5 minutes. They take you through a small section of the cave where you can see the glow worms. Which were pretty cool to see. Then you get out. It’s on the princely side for tickets. But if you are looking for something touristy to do give it a go. Note: you aren’t aloud to take pictures until the guide gives you the ok. Which is as you are leaving the cave."

"Great experience! These folks are excellent when it comes to meeting the needs of their patrons. We accidentally purchased tickets on the wrong day, so we tried our luck and drove to the ticket office and they were able to transfer our 3 tickets on the spot and the tour started in just a few minutes after that. While we truly appreciated that, the amazing experience didn’t stop there- our guide, Charlie, was knowledgeable and have an interesting tour of the caves. She sang a Māori waiata for us in the cathedral area of the caves and it gave me goosebumps! Thanks Charlie!"

"Beautiful park and tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and had a beautiful singing voice. We took the short tour, which was great, but now I wish we'd taken the longer one"