#discoverwaitomo

The Waitomo Glowworm Cave and Ruakuri Cave tour is the most popular combo and takes you on a 2.45 hour tour of the crème de la crème in the whole underground of Waitomo. While you are getting the most stunning view at thousands of glowworms in the Glowworm Cave from the boat you also go on Waitomo’s longest underground walk to see and learn about extraordinary limestone formations.

At the beginning of the Glowworm Cave tour we were introduced to our guide and were then familiarised with a couple of things to keep in mind such as no food, no photography and no touching of the limestone.  During the first part of the cave we learnt about the history and geological importance of the place, which was incredibly fascinating. Thanks to our knowledgeable and passionate guide the tour was informative and entertaining at the same time, making scientific explanations easy to understand. 

The highlight of the 45 minutes Glowworm Cave tour is definitely the boat ride at the end. Although Jordan and I had seen glowworms in New Zealand already we couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw the most spectacular formation of thousands of tiny lights around us. At this stage during the tour everyone was silent and just enjoyed the glowing sky, which had something spiritual in a way we can hardly describe it, but it was absolutely magical. 

If you are on a budget as well as on a time limit we'd suggest just doing the Glowworm Cave tour. It is highly informative; you get to see thousands of glowworms within a relatively short but reasonable time frame for amazing value for money. Furthermore it’s ideal to integrate into your travel schedule!  

If you are able to spend a bit more time in Waitomo like us then we'd highly recommend adding on the Ruakuri Cave as a combo. The cave was first discovered around 400-500 years ago by a Maori hunting for birds when he was attacked by wild dogs outside the cave entrance, but you will learn a lot more detail about the history of the cave on the tour. The Ruakuri Cave tour is Waitomo’s longest underground guided walking tour and is known for its beautiful modern spiral entrance and opens up a fancy world of limestone formations you have never seen plus even more glowworms! Especially the opening of the doors inbetween made me feel like in a film. There is so much to discover, hear, see and learn about plus you get to take photos and video clips as much as you like unlike in the Glowworm Cave!  

The stunning glowworms cannot be better gazed at than when you are there ... Let the beauty surprise you!

Waitomo is a very special place that offers experiences you should not miss out on during your travels for sure and truly deserves the Golden Kiwi Award! For more information on the combo tour and all the other tour options check out the link down below!

Kiwi Scores: Action: 3/5 Service: 5/5 Uniqueness: 5/5 WOW-Factor: 5/5 Cultural value: 5/5 Value for money: 5/5 Accessibility: 4/5 (If you either require a wheelchair or pushchair you will only be able to access the Ruakuri Cave, as this is the ONLY wheelchair/pushchair friendly cave!)  

Useful Links:

VLOG: https://youtu.be/R1sHVnzMV9k