I visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves the day before I visited the Kawiti Caves. Judging from both,…read moreKawiti Caves were definitely my favorite out of the two! There aren't any crowds so you have a better experience in that aspect. These caves are also family owned so they're well preserved and taken care of. The family is incredibly nice, knowledgeable, and welcoming. Kawiti definitely had more glow worms than Waitomo and I LOVED their "galaxy" of of glow worms. It was a beautiful sight. I would love to come back again if I find myself in the area. Photos are not allowed because the glow worms don't give off their "glow" if the flash goes off.

An absolute MUST stop on your way to or from Northland! A very informative and cultural guided tour…read morethrough the cave with a easy and beautiful bush walk at the end. The land in this area has been passed down by generations for around 400 years and the current owners take immense pride in sharing it with tourists. If you haven't seen NZ glow worms you really do need to take a short side trip and take the tour. Located only a kilometre from the main highway and there is plenty of parking. Locals we met in the Bay of Islands had even said it is way better than the widely known Waitomo caves! Even the toilets were impressive as they were in A+ clean condition.

My boyfriend and I did this Labour Weekend and absolutely loved it! Ben was a great tour guide,…read moretook loads of pictures and gave us copies. You're able to go under the waterfall in these kayaks which was brilliant. Would definitely do it again!

From the owner: "Our Bay of Islands adventure tourism business is a boat cruise that does kayaking. Our 18 person…read morespecialist boat that we built, allows us to deliver a more personal, informative, safer & warmer all weather adventure, be it in the day or on our sunset - night time safari. Our vessel allows us to do more with ease in the adventurous locations, including, a highlight of kayaking up to and under our white water waterfall where the river meets the sea."

VISIT: end of February 2020 COMPANY: Great Sights…read moreTOUR: Full-Day Bay of Islands Dolphin Cruise with Hole in the Rock Visit Overall this cruise was beautiful and cool to see this side of New Zealand and we had a GREAT time. They DO recommend sunscreen and even offer it for free on the ship because of the ozone layer you will get burnt. I hardly ever burn and tan easily and I was definitely red the next day! I recommend lining up early, there is limited seating towards the front of the boat and was a bit of a bum rush to get those seats. I also wouldn't sit at the absolute FRONT of the boat as we got seats to the side and the boat turns around often, so you'll get close to all the sights you need to see. ON THE BOAT: there are plenty of bathrooms and snacks/drinks to order. There are also several restaurants nearby the port to stop before the cruise starts One of the major disadvantages of our trip is that it was a WHOLE day tour and the cruise itself doesn't take that long. The way Great Sights structures it is that they pick up from Auckland and some people have an earlier tour, so we get to Paihia and had 2.5 hours to kill, which was fine, but we hadn't really planned for this. So, we stopped at a restaurant to eat, but you get there so early that they're not yet ready for serving lunch, so it was a small bit of a scrambling, as you don't want to go too far, as they start lining up for the cruise soon We both LOVED this tour and it was WORTH it, but to save on travel time, it would have been nicer to stay in Paihia. You have to be at the port for pickup from Auckland so early and it takes 2 hours to get to Paihia...so we had to leave our hotel before 7am for a tour that started at 1:15-1:30pm.

We had a great tour with this company - I highly recommend!…read more We booked our reservation through our timeshare office a couple of days in advance. We were picked up at the condo, which was convenient, and were happy to see that we were the only four people on the tour this time - lucky! Our guide was knowledgeable and tailored the trip to our needs. He was just funny enough without being annoying (you know that can drive you NUTS). The van was clean, comfortable and safe, and we were driven to the places listed on the itinerary. We got a lot of history and info along the way and the guy answered lots of questions (even the weird and random ones), which was super cool. This was definitely worth the money and I would use this company again! We

When one thinks about New Zealand one immediately think of sheep. Thus, our first stop when…read morevisiting Auckland was Sheep World. We arrived at Sheep World after a beautiful drive up the coast, just in time for the 2pm Sheep & Dog Show. For 1 1/2 hours we were regaled with stories of sheep shearing and herding and demonstrations of shearing and herding. Our guide was amazing. He held the audiences' attention, mostly children, for the whole time and kept everyone engaged (hard when the kids are young and mostly don't speak English). We started with a bit of the history of sheep in New Zealand then moved into the training of the dogs, them a demo of herding. Each dog, a huntaway and a Border collie, got a turn with the sheep. My friend and I got to help with drafting the sheep into separate pens. Next we watched a sheep get sheared. Three of the children even got a go with the shears. Lastly, we bottle fed lambs. HOW CUTE! As if the tour wasn't enough there is a whole farm full of petting animals like goats and pigs and a small forest area to walk through. We loved this park. Can't recommend it enough for your itinerary.