We did this cave as a combo with Waitomo cave. Waitomo is really focused on the glowworms and this…read morecave (while it has some glowworms as well) its highlights are the many rock formations. The ribbon or sheet formations were stunning. The white rock is so beautiful. The cave is fully accessible with no steps. The beginning walk down to the cave door reminds me of being in the sci film, The Silo. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the cave and the area. They encourage photos so we took a few. I really enjoyed this tour.

Came here with the grandparents and the kids and everyone loved it. Our guide, Jetta, was…read moreexcellent - she was knowledgable about the history of the place, some of the science behind the worms, and managed the tour from start to finish really well. The caves themselves are really impressive - with the Ruakuri cave you get both the glowworms (including fairly up close) and the stalactite and stalagmite formations on an accessible walking tour. Yes, it is also accessible with a wheelchair and it's great that it was a priority for the owners to make it that way. Definitely book in advance so that you know you have a spot. Also, to clarify this is actually a separate cave to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves where you take a boat - so if you are torn on which one to do you can do both without a lot of overlap.

I did the five-hour Black Abyss tour here in February, 2025. LOVED IT. I know there is a shorter…read moreversion but there is nothing I would leave out from my experience. A good chunk of that time involved extensive suiting up, then extensive training on the abseiling gear before finally descending into that deep, dark cave. It's a little tricky, and like many of the activities that follow it can challenge your fitness a bit. You will need to do a lot of maneuvering in the water with an inner tube, some climbing up wet, rocky slopes, and a very fun zipline in the dark. But when you're finally just drifting through the caves, gazing up at that bioluminescent galaxy, it's rewarding on a level that must be experienced to be understood. Our guides were Cally and Evie, and they were exceedingly professional and knowledgeable, and their enthusiasm and charisma left a very positive impression. Super cool experience!!!

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I would recommend to anyone visiting New…read moreZealand. This is not just a basic rafting trip. You get to travel through caves, jump off of small waterfalls, and see the one-of-a-kind glow worms. Pippin and Lore were wonderful guides with great knowledge and comfort of the cave network. Please give this a try!

I mainly wanted this glowworm tour because they allow pictures to be taken while in the cave. The…read moretour date I was looking at was fully booked but you can email them to be added to the waitlist. I asked to be added to the waitlist for 2 on October 12, and got off the waitlist on November 9, for a tour on December 28 so don't give up hope if it is originally fully booked! I did the spellbound explorer tour which included a walk through a cave as well as a boat ride through a cave for the glowworms. The tour guide was great and allowed pictures during the first back and forth on the boat ride and asked us to put away our phones during the second. This is because the first go-around allows for the eyes to adjust and see the glowworms better so the second go-around the glowworms are much brighter. The cave walk was also a nice add on for 20 NZD but if the tour with the cave walk is not available the regular boat ride is perfect on its own. I loved this tour as our tour guide took pictures for each group that wanted some with glowworms and also provided us with personal pictures of glowworms taken with a nicer camera with a longer shutter speed.

Oceane was an informative and friendly guide. We were able to see so many glow worms! It was like…read moreseeing the milky way! Ask her about Mama Mia if you like aquatic wildlife.

My wife and I really enjoyed this tour. We had a fantastic guide who was very knowledgable about…read morethe caves, the history, as well as knowledge of the surrounding Waitomo area. On top of a great tour, the advantage of Caveworld is that you can take photographs. This is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that you can (with the right settings and perhaps a tripod) get some amazing photographs of the glowworms and their bioluminescence. Challenge is, most people don't have the right settings and often get results that leave a bit to be desired. Also, you'll see lot's of flashes going off throughout the tour so if you are put off by this, you might consider another "no photography" tour. Ultimately lots of people have great pictures of stalactites and stalagmites but few of the actual glowworms. As I appreciated the option to try to photographs these caves and their inhabitants, I really would recommend Caveworld.

We purchased a tour for 10am cave tubing to see the glowworms with Caveworld. The tour guides were…read morevery friendly and knowledgeable and provided a fun filled tour for our group. Definitely do not hesitate to book this tour as it the more adventurous way to see the glowworms. You go underneath the caves with your headlights and tubes. They provide all the gear including life jacket suits. You go through a slide and jump off mini waterfalls while admiring the glowworms inside the caves. It was such a memorable experience for us!

We had an adequate dinner here. Nancy very much liked her arugula salad (I didn;t get a taste) and…read moreher pumpkin risotto. I had whjat purported to be a Thai beef salad, and although the greens where very nice and the beef well prepared, it was not discernibly Thai -- no lime juice, no fish sauce, no spiciness, and no cilantro. Nice salad, but not an accurate menu listing

We stopped here to get a bite to eat after touring the caves. They were completely booked but were…read moreable to take an order for takeout. We ordered the chicken pizza and arugula salad. It was probably the best pizza we've ever had. It was perfectly cooked and had a fantastic flavor with interesting spices and the caramelized pears pushed it over the top. The woman who took our order was very friendly and accommodating, which we had not experienced in several places we've been to, so it was a welcome change. I would happily eat here again.

Stopped in for breakfast, delicious food, great service, well priced, highly recommend!read more

So glad we stopped here for breakfast on the way to the Glow Worm Caves! The service was so…read morefriendly, there was plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, along with take away and full menu breakfast options! We had a breakfast croissant and the Big Brekkie plate along with some iced mochas! All was delicious. Plus you can buy some snacks, drinks, and souvenirs on your way out! The servers also kept bringing out delicious looking pastries like scones and muffins! Everything was nice, clean and well-kept! If you need some food before your day starts, start here!

A true highlight of our New Zealand trip. After a ton of research, we found Glowing Adventures,…read morewhich was a unique mix of caving/spelunking and getting up close and personal with glow worms! But the best part of the trip was that it was a small tour, run by the family that's opened up their farm to the public to share this magical experience. Highly recommended!!!

If you are going to see glowworms, you have to go with glowing Adventures! No one else signed up…read morefor our time, so we got a personal 2 people tour. Not rushed, had all the time on the world. We got great explanations and our tour guide even took pictures of us, including a long exposure one that captured the beauty of the glowworms. We were provided with all the clothing/boots we needed, and got cookies and coffee afterwards. It's on their private farm, so the caves were in pristine condition, non-commercialized. Some areas got pretty tight, and required some scrambling, but your tour guide will guide you into the appropriate areas of the cave. Also inevitable to get water in the boots, but felt great and the clothing they supplied kept us at a perfect temperature. All in all one of the best tours we have ever been on! We were also fortunate to come in the spring when it wasn't too busy and get a great $100 dealing bookme.co.nz 2 days before!

The owner/hosts, Richy & Lynn welcomed us, like long lost family. Richy loves his village, made…read morefabulous recommendations and encouraged us to stay longer to relax in the area he loves. Lynn sees to breakfast. I can't imagine anyone leaves the table hungry. The rooms are clean and quiet. The property is covered in flowers and birds. They recommended Spellbound tours for the caves, Huhu for dinner and told us of a waterfall we had mostly to ourselves. Think of your visiting your favorite Auntie & Uncle, that is Richy & Lynn.

A hidden gem that if i could keep a secret i would, just so they would have always have an opening…read more Owners are friendly and helpful and always there. Provided us with a little breakdown of their town and offered a few extracurriculars. Recommended a small late night glow worm hike and even gave us a map and flashlight(torch) to use. Nice little renovated en suite with all the little creature comforts you would need for the night! Awesome no hesitations to stay there again if we ever find oursleves back here.

It's hard to put a nail to it, but this place has a lot and I mean a lot of potential. It is such…read morea beautiful historical building. But!!!! It is somewhat run down. The landscaping needs some attention. There is this killer lounge that is not being used. Our mini fridge was a little funky. I really do hope and pray that they put some tender love into this hotel, it is very similar to The Coronado in San Diego. Hands down I'm happy that we stayed here, but a little disappointed when walking around the grounds. Bonus is they are extremely close to the Glow Worms cave. We could see it from our bedroom window. You can walk down to the local bar or grocery store. The town is not 100% dead thank goodness. Across the street is a nice park you can run around. There is a restaurant in the hotel, we didn't eat there because I'm a vegetarian and they didn't have options for me.

Boasting a visit from Queen Elizabeth in 1954, we arrived to a little bit of a crumbled state of…read moreaffairs. The windows must have been original as they were single paned and allowed the cold to permeate our room. Important things to us are the shower and the bed. The bed came with a heater for the mattress and was okay. Three stars. The shower needs a lot of attention. The hot water took a great while to get hot and the tub was chipped. In fact if you looked closely, chipped and crumby come to mind a lot. The restaurant on site was closed to us as a large group populated it that evening. They did offer to make a reservation for dinner elsewhere but we opted just to settle in early. There really is not much in town to do here except the caves which our 45 minute tour was just perfect. I recommend you stay in Auckland and day trip it here.