What‘s Included

What To Expect

Reviews

• Magical!

  Lakecomo16,

  Nov 6, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Part of our tour , we had tickets to visit.. they are super organized , our guide was Taylor and he was great , very knowledgeable.. You cannot take pictures , the tour was just a little over 1 hour .. when you walk inside , there are handbars+ railings for your safety…we saw the glow worms , very exciting and to finish , we did a boat ride inside . It’s so magical. Just know , you might get a little wet!

  

  

• Grumpy staff nearly ruined the experience

  joelD5217DI,

  Nov 3, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  3.00

  Caves and experience was great, but almost ruined by the rude older lady who was ‘greeting’ on arrival and some rather grumpy staff. We made a special trip from Hamilton with 8 people and due to traffic and roadworks were officially 7 mins late and we had rang ahead on the road and they told us not to worry Our guide Lucas warmed up on the tour and by the end was great fun. We enjoyed the experience but did not feel the famous NZ hospitality from some of the team. Still a great trip and worth a visit but would be nice to actually feel welcomed like we have in much of NZ trip.

• Enjoyable cave tour

  ShaunL,

  Oct 29, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  Good tour of the cave with Taylor who took us through the history and culture. No photos or video allowed until the very end due to respecting culture. The cave before the glow worm section is very ornate and interesting but it’s the glow worms that everyone comes to see. It was fascinating to see the worms and the light that they omit but the publicity photos do kind of over estimate the brightness of the glow. That’s said we enjoyed it. The boat handling via a series of ropes takes some doing. Cafe, restaurant, parking and the obligatory gift shop as well.

  

  

  

• Experience at the Glow worm caves.

  Am4407,

  Oct 28, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  This was one of those must do things while on the North Island of NZ. It's very interesting, and something different. We had a new guide, who to be fair, did a great job of trying to make it interesting and had a good knowledge of the caves, and formations created throughout the walk. It's very busy, but the groups are manageable, and it dent really impact on the tour. The caves are interesting to see, and illuminated well, so you don't feel claustrophobic inside, although it is damp and tight on places. It fin ashes with a boat tour through the Glow worm caves which is very nice, and great how it's achieved by the guides pulling you through on the boat by rope. Shame you can't take photos, video, but I get the reasons why. Well worth a visit, October is certainly a quieter time to go, otherwise, book well in advance.

• Not sure what to expect but blown away

  GrandTour44961828104,

  Oct 28, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  Guide and driver very knowledgeable ,really good day out ,not sure what to expect but truly amazing.would recommend to anyone

  

  

• I promised myself more

  Kerstin P,

  Oct 27, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  3.00

  You can't take pictures. It is pitch dark with individual spots. We were unlucky that 3 weeks earlier there was flooding in the cave and only 40% of the larvae survived. The boat trip is in total darkness since you saw many, but only white glow, not blue , as I expected and no chains. 1200 people a day are professionally passed through here.

• Fascinating and beautiful experience

  richardmP1661JV,

  Oct 25, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  The caves that you could traverse in the boat were a little limited due to the rain that New Zealand has been having recently. Not a big issue as there was more time to hear about the caves and the formations. The big attraction is the boat trip into the caves with ceilings covered in the blue glow worms. It is like looking at a spectacular starry sky.

• Glow worm caves

  A4623JYvickyl,

  Oct 23, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  Here’s a revised version that weaves in your note about the pace and crowding: --- The Glowworm Cave was beautiful—those twinkling lights overhead were pure magic. But the tour felt rushed and a bit crowded, with lots of groups moving through at once. We didn’t really get time to pause or take it all in that said the 10 mins boat trip was great seeing the grooms. In contrast, the Ruakuri Cave walking tour was much better paced. Fewer people, more space, and time to really appreciate the glowworms and formations. If you’re after a more relaxed, immersive experience, Ruakuri’s the one.

• Magical and family-friendly—must-do in NZ!

  tinasilvas2025,

  Oct 20, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Beautiful underground adventure at Waitomo Glowworm Caves! Our 45-minutes tour culminating in a serene boat ride beneath a canopy of thousands of twinkling glowworms—like sailing under a starry sky. Informative guides shared fascinating geology tales.

• Not worth the time

  Jan G,

  Oct 20, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  3.00

  You will only be on the boat for about 5 minutes and during that time you will be uncomfortably packed in like sardines. The tour could have easily been 15 minutes in total. They seem to drag it out to make it seem worth it. The facts presented on the tour are more based on climate change than the history of the cave. While climate change is important, we went for the worms and the caves. I would suggest skipping this one and just doing the 90 minute walk at Ruakuri instead.

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