The Waitomo Glowworm Caves are among the most visited attractions of New Zealand’s North Island and Ruakuri Cave is the longest of the underground caves. Explore the magnificent cave on this 75-minute guided walking tour and marvel at the unique rock formations, subterranean rivers, and thousands of glittering glowworms.

All entrance fees included
Led by a local guide
Soak up the atmosphere on a walking tour
Small-group tour

What's Included

Local guide

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

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End point

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What To Expect

Ruakuri Cave

1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
Children must be accompanied by an adult

All you will need are comfortable shoes and a warm jacket.
You must check in 30 minutes before the tour departs .
Due to high demand and limited capacity if you are late or miss your scheduled tour time your ticket(s) are forfeited and non refundable. New bookings will incur the full tour cost and are subject to availability
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Marlise_S

I think that this excursion was made particularly special because of our tour guide - Joel. He had a great depth of knowledge but wasn't overpowering in his presentation or personality. I felt like I knew so much more about the history and structure of the Waitomo Caves after this experience. Good Job Joel!

Reviews

4.5

73 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 73 reviews

Out of three glow worm...

Marianne_B, Apr 2024

Out of three glow worm experiences (cave kayak in Rotorua, Waitomo tour) this was my favorite. Our guide, Nathan, kept the tour entertaining and informative with impeccable pacing. Very, very cool and varied cave formations, cave creek, and tour layout. Plus, of course, the glowworms! We were able to see them very close up and capture some amazing photos. Great mix of accessibility and conservation. Plus, farrrrrr less crowded than the Waitomo tours down the street on the day we did both.

Excellent

Sunjoy_I, Apr 2024

It was really an amazing tour. The guide was quite knowledgeable and provided lots of deep insights on history around glow worm caves.

Worth it! Hidden, golden gem

Julie_J, Mar 2024

This was such an amazing tour. Significantly better but yet different than the Glow Worm cave tour down the street. I booked this thinking my party was going to get bored after the Glow Worm Cave tour but this was so amazing, different and fascinating.

Great guide, fabulous...

Steen_J, Mar 2024

Great guide, fabulous rock formations. Other caves have more and prettier glowworms but this cave has great formations.

Worth it

Mandy_P, Mar 2024

I had wanted to do the boat ride but it was fully booked. This is a better tour, you get to see far more and the guide was excellent. I was worried about my husband walking up and down the incline into and out of the cave... no problem whatsoever, its very gently sloped and he had no problem. We both thoroughly enjoyed the tour.

Best cave tour

Shelly_T, Mar 2024

I have been in a few caves before… But this was by far the most beautiful one. Ruben was an awesome guide and readily answered all our questions. It was great getting to see the glowworms up so close.

Ruakuri Cave

Lisa_S, Mar 2024

Was cool to see all the different formations and hear about the history of the cave, was a easy walk

What a sight

Arielle_E, Mar 2024

Our guide was very entertaining. He gave a very knowledgeable tour. The tour was very good and exciting. We truly appreciate it.

Glow worms!

Daniel_C, Feb 2024

Well organized. Had a great time. So much more than just glow worms. We also took the boat tour as a combo.

Ruakuri Cave Tour

Lauralyn_J, Jan 2024

The trail through the cave is well developed, the guide is knowledgeable about the history of the development of the cave and about glow worms. It was something to see folks floating beneath the trail in the stream. The rock and crystal development was impressive.

Underground extravaganza

William_A, Jan 2024

We toured both the main Glowworm Cave (by boat) and the Ruakuri Cave (on foot), both managed by the Black Water Rafting Company. For the Ruakuri tour, our guide, Wie, was amazing. He shared his deep knowledge of the cave and its history, and even assured us that we were perhaps in the safest possible location should an earthquake occur! It was utterly fascinating to witness rock formations and fossils that were millions of years old.

Cave walk

Jay_T, Jan 2024

It was a really cool cave walk to do...but I think for the price u pay use guys charge far too much I payed $107 for a ticket it should be around $50 very expensive.

Amazing little group tour.

Caio_B, Nov 2023

The cave is amazing and so is the guide. Only small groups go to this tour, ours was with only 5 people. Totally recommended!

Enjoyable and informative

Lisa_N, Mar 2023

Our guide was really lovely and informative. Nice easy walk through the caves. Would have loved to see more glow worms but that was okay and can’t be helped

Wonderful, well worth the visit!

Susan_R, Feb 2023

Great tour, our guide Alicia was very informative and animated. The glow worms were fascinating and beautiful. It was a new experience for us to explore a cave with a river running through it. We appreciated that all lighting is solar-powered, and enjoyed the opportunity to take as many photos as we wanted (no flash, of course!). Mostly level walking other than the spiral ramp up and down, with good footing. A real highlight of our North Island stay.

Superb. Definitely wheelchair friendly.

Geoffrey_B, Feb 2023

We decided not to use my partner's mobility scooter and opted for a wheelchair provided and pushed by our guide (Dan). Very good decision due to the low light and some tight turns. The whole place was fascinating and access was superb. Dan was very knowledgeable and informative. Couldn't have asked for more.

Had to take another tour by mistakes from Viator and the operator

exiadbq, Jan 2023

A group of 2 seniors and one child went there to redeem tickets at the location 30mins before the tour following everything on the vouchor provided, only told there is no courtesy bus as of full capacity to go to a different location for the actual start. Then the group was offered a shorter and cheaper tour mentioned they are of the same price! With no prior info and no photos can be taken, they toke the tour or as Viator and the Waitomo caves operator failed to provide what they should with misinformation. No refund from Viator even all the info and vouchor provided cannot guarantee the tour, very disappointed.

Fabulous experience

Meegan_B, Dec 2022

Fabulous experience, great guide, friendly and knowledgeable. This is a very worthwhile tour with amazing sights, highly recommend it

The Caves

Cynthia_B, Dec 2022

The glow worms so pretty. Guide Cam was informative. Stalagtites and stalagmites looked awesome. Cam took care of our safety and was at times amusing

One Special Cave Experience

Marlise_S, Feb 2022