Waitomo
Waitomo is a small, picturesque village located in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island, renowned globally for its spectacular underground limestone caves and the mesmerising glowworms that illuminate them. This natural wonderland attracts visitors from around the world, offering a unique blend of adventure, natural beauty, and Māori culture. The Waitomo Caves are the centerpiece of the area, with three main caves that are open to the public: the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, Ruakuri Cave, and Aranui Cave. The Glowworm Caves are perhaps the most famous, offering a magical boat ride through a subterranean grotto lit by thousands of tiny glowworms, creating a starry night effect underground. Ruakuri Cave offers a more adventurous experience, with its spiral entrance, underground rivers, and fascinating rock formations, while Aranui Cave is known for its stunning stalactites and stalagmites. For thrill-seekers, Waitomo offers a variety of exhilarating activities, including black-water rafting, where you can float through the caves on an inner tube, and abseiling or zip-lining into the depths of the caves. The surrounding karst landscape also provides opportunities for above-ground exploration, with scenic walking trails that reveal the region's lush forests, limestone cliffs, and hidden waterfalls. Waitomo’s connection to Maori culture adds another layer of depth to the visitor experience. Many of the cave tours include insights into the Māori legends and stories associated with the area, offering a deeper understanding of the cultural significance of the caves. The village of Waitomo itself is small but welcoming, with a selection of cafes, restaurants, and accommodations ranging from backpacker hostels to luxury lodges. The nearby Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park offers a chance to see New Zealand’s native wildlife, including the iconic kiwi bird, further enriching your visit to the region.
Waitomo Glow Worm Caves
Explore a 30 million year old cave network spread across three levels. You'll travel deep underground through the limestone caves viewing stalactites and stalagmites as well as hearing about the caves historical and geological significance. You'll then hop into a boat and glide silently through the glow worm grotto - a galaxy of tiny living lights.
Glowworm and Cave Tour with Spellbound
Be absolutely Spellbound on this tour that allows you to take in the truly spectacular display of glowworms in their natural habitat - over 30,000 of them gently lighting the entire cave. This relaxed and gentle tour will also treat you to the beautiful Cave of the Spirit where you will walk through an incredible succession of chambers to find speleothems, fossil remains of extinct moa and cathedrals filled with natural light, softly falling to the floor.
The Black Labyrinth Subterranean Adventure
The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company has been guiding adventurous visitors through Ruakuri Cave since 1987. They've found the very best underground location for their unique style of adventure which will see you black water tubing, clambering, jumping and serenely floating through the subterranean waterways of Ruakuri Cave. Over three hours you'll take leaps of faith over cascading waterfalls, gaze up at limestone ceilings awash with glowworms and lazily float through the dark Ruakuri river. At the end of your caving adventure you'll emerge into the daylight of the Waitomo forest.
It is important you understand the risks associated with this activity. For more information please see here.
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Lost World Caving Tour with Waitomo Adventures
Abseil 100m into a spectacular world of prehistoric forest, glow-worms, rivers, flowstone formations and massive caverns. Explore the depths before ascending a gigantic ladder through the craggy upper levels of the 'Spider Hole'. Nothing short of sensational, this underground adventure is 4 hours in length.
Ruakuri Cave Guided Tour
Ruakuri cave features amazing cave formations and underground secrets and the guided tour offers a comprehensive experience.
Winding passageways, vast echoing caverns, deep crevices and the distant thunder of subterranean waterfalls bring a different energy and character to Ruakuri. Be led along narrow corridors and across low-lit walkways suspended high above the river, sometimes glimpsing the black water rafters on the Huhunui River below. Tours of Ruakuri take two hours and offer Waitomo's longest guided walking tour along 1.6km of cave passages where you marvel at the interesting formations in this living work of nature.
Haggas Honking Holes with Waitomo Adventures
This is Waitomo's most concentrated Action Adventure. Feel like Indiana Jones in a washing machine. Do a series of abseils, rock climbs, crawling and cruising as you explore this fabulous cave. Haggas Honking Holes is very exciting fast moving action. It's an adventure that crams lots of action into only 4 hours. See unique formations and glowworms close up. Participants should be fit and brave but no prior experience is required. Full training and equipment is supplied. Allow 4 hours for this trip, including 2 hours underground. Enjoy a hot shower before heading back to Waitomo.
Lost World Epic Tour with Waitomo Adventures
This is Waitomo's Ultimate Adventure. Abseil 100m into the surreal Lost World. Descend slowly bouncing and turning as the mist filtered light gives unreal qualities to the strange plants and formations. The abseil into the Lost World is at least twice the height of any other cave at Waitomo and the beauty of this iconic cavern is unsurpassed. The descent takes about 30 minutes. Then after lunch take the wet way out! In probably the strangest setting you have ever eaten, you'll head upstream, walking, swimming and climbing through cathedral-size vaults. You'll see waterfalls, ancient whalebones and oyster fossils as well as the magnificent glowworms. Emerge several hours later and enjoy a hot shower and well-earned dinner BBQ meal near the cave before heading back to Waitomo. Includes all drinks and meals.
Off the Beaten Track Eco Tour with Down To Earth Waitomo
On this incredible eco-tour the knowledgeable guides will escort you through beautiful native New Zealand forest and into the untouched caves of the Waitomo district. Here you will move slowly through the caves, enjoying, exploring, and taking in the surroundings, including the mesmerising glow worm displays.
Waitomo Triple Cave Combo - Glowworm, Ruakuri and Aranui Caves
Deep underground in the heart of the Waikato are a series of unique caves that will take your breath away. Deep underground in the heart of the Waikato are a series of unique caves that will take your breath away. Ruakuri Cave is home to an innovative spiral entrance, echoing waterfalls, and limestone that flow into delicate shawl-like formations. Nearby, at the Waitomo Glowworm Cave, thousands of tiny glow worms cling to the cave ceiling, creating a starry sky within the underground night. You'll also see a deep limestone shaft and a soaring subterranean cathedral that will leave you speechless. Take a journey through the forest to magnificent Aranui Cave. With a natural cave entrance, it is the smallest and most delicate of Waitomo's three main caves. Take pictures of the most beautiful collection of stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and decorative formations.
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