Private Tour: Waitomo Caves Day Trip from Auckland
Overview
Available languages
Mobile ticket
See the popular attraction of Waitomo Caves on this private day trip from Auckland. Whisk through the 'City of Sails' with a quick introduction by your personal guide, then travel by private vehicle to the caverns brightly lit with glowworms. A boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto is an unparalleled experience you won't soon forget and is run in groups through the caves.
Additional Info
Specialized infant seats are available
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
All guides speak English. If you should need a guide that speaks one the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish- please book using OTHER LANGUAGE SPEAKING GUIDE
The tour inside the Glowworm Caves is conducted in groups
What To Expect
Auckland Domain
Pick up from your hotel accommodation and drive through Auckland CBD and head out towards Waitomo a small village in North Island of New Zealand.
Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Waitomo is a village on the North Island of New Zealand. It’s known for its extensive underground cave systems. Thousands of glow-worms light up the Glowworm Caves. The vast Ruakuri Cave features waterfalls and limestone formations. West, Mangapohue Natural Bridge is a high limestone arch over Mangapohue Stream. Northeast of the village.
Options
Other Language Speaking Guide
Your driver/ guide is available to converse in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Pickup included
English Speaking Driver/ Guide
Pickup included
What‘s Included
Hotel pickup and drop-off
All taxes, fees and handling charges
Light refreshments and bottled water
Private driver/guide
Transport by private vehicle
Entrance Tickets
Food and drinks
Personal expenses
Pick up from Port/ Airport (if required)
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Reviews
12 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Glowing about the worms
Susan S,Mar 2, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Wonderful private cave. Need to be able to walk up 150 stairs as there are no elevators. Tour guide was absolutely fabulous and did not rush the tour and provided ample time for pictures. Highly recommended! Tour finished with some wonderful Kawa Kawa tea. Your Max is 10.
Great caves but just a driver
JEANNE H,Mar 28, 2025
- Review from Viator
3.00The caves are incredible and worth the 2.5 hour drive from Auckland. As for Private tour, our driver was a very safe and provided bathroom stops but was not really a guide. He didn’t talk the entire time unless we asked a question. We wanted to know more about Auckland, the land, etc. We told him we were only here in transit once before. A usual private guide will tell you everything about an area or country. He was a driver.
Fabulous caves, disappointing journey
Ruth S,Jan 28, 2025
- Review from Viator
3.00The glow worm caves are not to be missed--an extraordinary experience. However, be advised that it's a 2 hour 20 minute drive from Auckland to the caves and even longer back (because of Auckland traffic) for an hour in the cavern. Our main complaint is that our guide/driver was a competent driver, but not a guide at all...in fact, she had never toured the caves. Her accent was very thick, making her hard to understand, and if you were in the back of the van you couldn't hear her anyway. This would have been a wonderful opportunity to learn about the countryside of New Zealand with the right person to explain it. If all you want is a ride to the caves from Auckland, there's probably a cheaper way to get there.
Caves
Armenak Z,Jan 2, 2025
- Review from Viator
1.00The trip was not well organized. We had to wait 2 hours for our pick up. Even though the driver was a very friendly guy. It's much easier to buy tickets at the spot and drive there with your own car.
Bucket list excursion
Megan T,Jan 21, 2024
- Review from Viator
5.00Wonderful driver, very respectful and knowledgeable. The worm caves were out of this world. I would highly suggest this tour to everyone. This is a bucket list item.
Total rip-off!!!
Philip C,Jul 16, 2021
- Review from Tripadvisor
1.00“Private” cave tour is a glorified Uber ride to the caves, where you then tour with the rest of the public… this company is a bunch of crooks.
Waitomo caves and Hobiton
Robin Z,Mar 18, 2019
- Review from Viator
5.00Excellent - we added the Hobiton on to the Waitomo caves and it was fabulous - Anili the driver also used spare time to get us to the KIWI house - very well informed and helpful guide highly recommend!
Not good value
frequent traveler200,Mar 3, 2018
- Review from Tripadvisor
3.00We booked a private tour of the Glowworm Caves via Legend because we were doing as a day trip from Auckland. It was one of the most expensive activities we did (only helicopter tour more expensive) and it was not good value for the return. The Glowworm Caves were interesting...and the tour of the caves is conducted by employees of the caves, not Legend. But it was a long drive (2.5 hours each way) for the caves, the tour of which takes only about 45 min. Most people pair the Caves with Hobbinton but we werre not interested in touring a movie set. The description of the tour said it included Auckland highlights (by car) as well, though our driver did not do that. I would not recommend doing the Glowworm Caves as a day trip from Auckland; they are interesting if you are in the neighborhood, but not worth a detour. The tour of the caves itself is not expensive; we paid alot for the driver to take us there an back.
Not what it was made out to be
Anders K,Jan 28, 2018
- Review from Tripadvisor
1.00Going into the experience, we expected a full day of exploring and learning with a private guide, but instead it looked like this: 7.30-11am: Drive from Auckland to Waitomo 11am-12pm: Group Tour with 50-odd people at the Waitomo Caves, a nice enough place, but crowded and nothing private about it. 12-2.30pm: Drive from Waitomo to Auckland We spent twice as much time in a van driving to and from the caves than we did actually exploring. The description is misrepresented as there is nothing private about the Waitomo Caves tour.
We had a lovely guide, Irina and we...
Tracey B,Jan 1, 2017
- Review from Viator
5.00We had a lovely guide, Irina and we thoroughly enjoyed the day and the experience. We would recommend this tour to others.
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Operated by Legend Tours and Travels Ltd