Came for free as part of Waitangi Day, so glad I coincidentally got to go. The boat ride was peaceful and we got a lesson about the glow worms, which was super interesting. The cave itself was very cool - with waterfalls and a full river inside of it which I've never seen before. The glow worms part was just okay though; I've seen them on North Island before just once, and they were amazing there because the ceiling was full of them. Here, they were not. However, sitting on a boat in the dark inside a cave was a neat experience, and there were patches of glow worms otherwise. Very unique experience. Also got to see the strands glow worms make in order to catch food, that was quite cool too. All in all a unique experience, but I'm not sure I'm willing to pay $80 (USD) for the experience. I'd probably be willing to pay about half of that. Check out the free glow worm caves instead! read more

The glowworm caves themselves: INCREDIBLE! This is such a unique phenomenon, where worms glow to attract prey and light up the caves like stars in the sky. It was so unique to be able to walk through the cave, and then take a boat ride through the pitch black part of the cave where the glowworms are brightest. Surprisingly, people in our tour group followed the rules and were completely silent and didn't take photos - but anyone that got unlucky with kids on their tour would be a huge bummer. It would honestly be smart to offer one kid tour a day and make the rest adult only. The process of getting there and back is a bit of a haul, and the bugs are crazy bad outside of the cave, which made things a bit uncomfy. The guides were knowledgeable, but they did a big presentation at the end rather than the beginning - it would be nice to know about the glowworms and what we're looking at before going in. In all, I'd have loved more time in the cave and on the boat, but understand they're on time constraints with so many tours. Definitely still a must see in Te Anau! read more

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This was my first visit to NZ. So I had to see the glow worms. Our luck, that our tour was canceled multiple times (6 times to be precise) due to cave flooding! We had to move our other travel plans to make this happen and I am glad we did. The glow worms are unique to NZ, and our tour operator real NZ was professional/timely and the guides knowledgeable. The tour takes about 2.5 hours with a boat to the caves, walking path and information area, a short guide talk and then walking around the caves (guided) and a unique small boat rope ride inside the cave. In the boat, you get within 6 inches of glow worms (more if you are tall :P) Try to fit this in your itinerary read more

Te Anau Glowworm Caves - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Te Anau, STL

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Cool tour operated by Real Journeys Te Anau. The folks at the check in desk were not very friendly or helpful and the boarding process was a bit chaotic. In NZ we learned that instructions/directions/signs with information are severely lacking. People had formed a couple of random lines on the dock as the previous boat unloaded. When it was time to board people rushed the small opening at the front of the dock, haphazardly. My friend and I joined the throng and sardined our way onto the boat. All of the folks on the boat including the captain were super nice and knowledgeable. Once on the other side the guides were engaging and the tour was very informational. No matter what you tell people, however, there will always be someone who refuses to follow the rules. They clearly state at the start of the cave tour outside that there is to be no use of electronics (cell phone etc) in any way and no photos. The lady at the end of our group of 12 had her phone on at several points of the trek in the cave and the guide had to keep reminding the group to keep all torches off so as not to disrupt the glow worms. Unfortunately there don't seem to be any consequences in NZ for tourists behaving badly. I wish there were! Little quiet ladies need to be kept in check, too! Anyway, it was a worthwhile experience and definitely not something you see every day! read more

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We decided to take another Real Journey excursion, this time to the Te Anua Glowworm Caves. You check in at the visitors center and pick up your boarding pass then get on a big spacious twin hill boat for the smooth 25-minute trip across the lake to the Caves. Tours run through the day-and ours was 3:15 in mid-January. The tour take 2-1/4 hours start to finish. Once at the Caves you are separated into smaller groups -ours was 11+a guide who walks you through the Caves past swirling water and interesting sculpted limestone explaining things. Then you board a small flat bottom boat, the lights are turned off and you slowly and quietly enter into the world of the glow worms with their eerie blue lights. While perhaps a bit Disneyesque to some, it really is an amazing site to see the thousands of blue lights arrayed like constellations across the night sky. After 15-20 minutes you return back to your starting point, get off the boat then retrace your steps back out through the cave mouth along the elevated walkway. My only complaint is that they do make you pose for a photo at the start then offer them for sale at the end which taints and cheapens the magical experience a bit. TIP: nice idea to wear a rain racket as it is quite a bit cooler in the Caves and water does drip on you here and there. After the tour there is a short presentation of what the glow really worms are, why they glow and how they catch their food. A one-of-a-kind experience available only in New Zealand. For that reason alone, despite the steep price, I recommend taking the tour. read more

Te Anau Glowworm Caves - Boat to the caves - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Te Anau, STL

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I'm a little disappointed with our glowworm cave experience. We paid $140 which covered the cost of the 2 hour tour (usually $75 by itself) and our bus trip from and to Queenstown. It was a hugely long day leaving Queenstown at about 8am and arriving in Te Anau some time around Midday after a couple of stops along the way. We then had to hang out in Te Anau for a couple of hours before our tour started at 2pm. Unbeknownst to us, half of the 2 hour tour was actually spent on a boat getting to and from the cave. Once we arrived at the caves we were given a 10 minute breifing and told we were not allowed to take photos. When one lady asked why we weren't allowed to take photos even if the flash was off the rude guide responded with "because you're just not allowed to and if you want to discuss it later then I'm happy to". The group was a bit shocked by this reaction because we were all thinking the same thing and no real explaination was given. We were then split into groups of about 12 and headed into the caves. Due to the rushing water it was very hard to hear anything our guide was saying whenever he spoke. Maybe microphones would be a good idea? Once we got to the glowworm grotto we were loaded into a boat and had to be super quiet. We were pulled around the grotto waters for about 10 minutes were the cave roof was lit up with glowworms like it was the milkway then we headed back out. We were in the caves for about 30 minutes in total. After the caves we headed back to the hut were tea and coffee was on offer then we sat through a presentation on the glowwrom lifecycle before jumping back on the boat to Te Anau and waiting around for our bus which got us back to Queenstown at about 7:30pm. Basically we paid $140 for 30 minutes in a glowworm cave and 11 hours of sitting around. It might be worth it if you're passing through Te Anau but I just wish we'd held off to check out the glowworm caves in Waitomo on the North Island instead. read more

The caves, guides, and lake are stunning. This is an excellent idea, unfortunately it is not particularly well done. The caves require silence in order to see and not scare away the glow worms, however children of all ages were allowed to attend every tour. This company would greatly benefit from specific tours for families with children under 5 or 6. Children younger than this, including an infant were brought into the cave. There were about 20 kids under the age of 5 on our tour. This is upsetting because children of that age sometimes just cannot be silenced, which ruins the experience for others. It is also a safety hazard as parts of the cave are difficult to navigate as an adult. Children who could not walk well on their own were carried in by adults who were having to duck down quite a bit to avoid hitting their head. This is a disaster waiting to happen. That being said, the guides were excellent, and the caves were beautiful. read more

This is a great experience, don't miss it! My fiancee and I did it on a recent trip, and while most things in NZ are a little overpriced and this was the same, it still was a very memorable experience and something worth doing! read more