Waitomo - Glow Worm Caves - New Zealand Travel Information

Photos from Waitomo

First of all, and apology - the photos DO NOT capture the beauty of the place!

The town of Waitomo is known for its elaborate underground cave system. The caves are mostly famous for the hundreds of thousands glow worms who live in them. These worms create a astonishing sight, that may be described as a sky full of bright blue stars. It is possible to see glow worms in other places in New Zealand, but there is no doubt that in no other place the sight is as beautiful as in Waitomo.

The caves are also famous for the underground river that allows travelers to take a boat to view the worms.

Getting to Waitomo

Waitomo is located 3 hours drive from Auckland, 1 hour south of Hamilton. The turn to Waitomo is from Road No. 3 and then another 8 km to the caves.

Visiting the Waitomo Caves

There are several options to see the caves. Here are some of the options:

Basic tour of the caves
Take a boat inside the most famous cave, with the highest concentration of glow worms. The problem with this tour is that photography is forbidden, and there is not enough time to enjoy the worms thoroughly.

Time: 45 minutes.
Tours operate from 9:00 to 17:00, every 30 minutes (50 people max).
cost: 25$ nzd.

notes:

A combined ticket with the Aranui stalactite cave costs 45 NZD
Entrance fee to the Aranui cave only - 25 NZD
First and last tours are less crowded
This tour is what most organized tours offer

Tubing through the caves
Also known as "black water rafting". This is a more adventurous to see the caves, by going through the caves on inflated car-wheel tubes. The disadvantage is that on the caves where this type of trip is possible, there are fewer glow worms.

Length of the tour: 4 hours, 2 of them inside the cave.
Departures: several times a day.
Cost: 85 NZD

Notes:

There is a company that offers a combined tube tour with rapelling (145 NZD)

"The Lost World Tour"
The Lost World cave offers rapelling into a 100 meter deep cave (!). At the bottom of the cave, you can take the dry way back to the surface or the wet way (not with tubes).

Length of the tour:
dry exit - 4 hours
wet exit- 7 hours.

Departures:
dry exit - 07:00, 11:30
wet exit- 10:30

cost:
dry exit: 225 NZD
wet exit: 355 NZD

Glow Worms

Glow Worms are actually not worms, but larva of a bug similar to a mosquito, which has a special life cycle. When the bug is in its larva stage, it builds a trap that looks like a vertical hanging wire, covered with a sticky liquid. The larva produces light from its body, and flying insects who are drawn to the light get captured in the trap.

The length of the wires depends on the wind conditions inside the cave, and can reach up to 10cm in wind-protected caves.

The glow worms live in dark areas, and the best way to watch them is from the darkness of the cave.