What‘s Included

What To Expect

Reviews

• Very cool but expensive

  Paul H,

  Nov 11, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  Very advisable to book online as the ‘slots’ go quickly, many to your operators. $81 per adult for an hours tour, (ours ended in 50minutes). The tours went every 20 minutes from the waiting area. Our guide, Nga, was lovely, knowledgeable and humorous. Health & Safety speech done you enter the cave system. It is lovely and well worth seeing. The only issue is that at some point there are at least two other groups in the vicinity and it’s very hard to hear what your guide is saying. Having done the cave area you are loaded onto a boat and your guide pulls you along via a rope system. It is very serene and dark, everyone respects the need to remain silent as you gaze at the thousands of glow worms above your head. Photography is not allowed until you are virtually leaving the cave so pictures are limited. Once the boat docks you get out and follow the path back to the gift shop area. I did not see any access for wheelchair users. Toilets and cafe onsite. It is amazing to see, but it didn’t take an hour and it’s costly just for that experience.

  

  

  

  

• Outstanding

  DonT562,

  Nov 11, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  A brilliant experience. Do yourself a favour and pay a visit. It is an informative tour and the boat trip through the glow worm caves is just briliant. It is a breath taking experience. Be aware that this site is a NO cash site for everyhing.

• It’s a long way ... but 10 poetic minutes under a sky of glow worms

  gerardcH4752BR,

  Nov 11, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  3.00

  The visit lasts 45’ underground but above all 10’ by boat for a beautiful poetic and silent moment under a sky of glow worms It’s short... considering the 300km or so in AR from the center of the island... We took a little fun hike nearby (caves tunnels and waterfalls ).

• Enchanted boat ride

  H8113ULrayl,

  Nov 9, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  One of life’s better journeys. Where else can you get up and personal with little glowing bugs. And throw in a boat ride. Danny our guide made it a pleasurable experience and well worth the money spent

• So magical!

  Kaitlynn T,

  Nov 9, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  We had a tour with Lucas as our guide. He made our tour tons of fun and we had an absolute great experience. The glowworms were super magical! Highly recommend!

• Waitomo Glowworm Cave Tour

  DEMOPHONGEORGE,

  Nov 7, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  The cave is absolutely stunning — a magical and peaceful experience that feels like floating under a sky of tiny stars. However, photos are only allowed towards the end of the tour, and since the boat keeps moving, it’s hard to capture a nice shot of the glowworms (night mode doesn’t really work). Still, the view itself is unforgettable and definitely worth seeing in person.

• 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.

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