90-Minute Guided Ruakuri Cave Tour Waitomo
Description
Ruakuri Cave offers a captivating blend of Waitomo's most compelling subterranean experiences. Journey down through the spectacular spiral entrance, and marvel at the softly folding shawl-like limestone formations and crystal tapestries. Hear the distant thunder of the subterranean waterfalls and get up close to the glowworms. Spectacular and unique, Ruakuri Cave offers a captivating blend of Waitomo's most compelling subterranean experiences. In this 1.5 hour sightseeing tour, your guide will bring you up close to glowworms, elaborate cave formations, underground rivers, myths, legends and sacred Maori sites.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Discover the spectacular Ruakuri Cave on this 75-minute guided walking tour. Ruakuri Cave has displays of glowworms and is filled with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites formed over millions of years. Points of interest include softly folding shawl-like formations (formed by flowing rivers) and fossilized seashells, which indicate how the caves were once part of the seabed. Major features include Holdens Cavern, named after James Holden who first opened the cave to the public, The Drum Passage, The Pretties, and The Ghost Passage. Tours depart every day (except Christmas Day) at 9.00am, 10.00am, 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm. Photography is permitted in Ruakuri Cave. Ruakuri Cave is wheelchair accessible. .
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- 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
- Your own transport is required
- Stroller/wheelchair width must not exceed 65cm
Reviews(192)
Super interesting and our guide was so friendly and knowledgeable. Highly recommend. Great to do this first followed by the labyrinth experience.
If you have a loved one with a handicap some of the caves have wheelchair accessibility. Bring a sweatshirt or light jacket as some are more sensitive to cooler areas.
Amazing experience and well-run tour. The caverns blew us away. Great tracks and lighting. Our guide Stacey was great too.
Absolutely worth it, I would do it everyday if I could. Not only is the cave an amazing wonder of the world but our tour guide made the experience come to life. He was knowledgeable, funny, and passionate about the whenua he is a kaitiakitanga ( the land he is guardian over).
We really enjoyed the tour through the cave. Our Chicago-born guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the caves, the geology, the science of the worms, a good story teller and fun. It was amazing to see the worms up close and to learn about all the different kinds of rock formations in the cave. We were also very impressed by the Black Water company. We were traveling without a car and they kindly shuttled us from Waitomo Caves to Ruakuri and then back to the Village Chalet. Highly recommend taking both tours- Waitomo and Ruakuri- as they are very different experiences and both really informative and fun.
Fabulous tour guide and amazing experience!! Easy to find. Highly informative. Would do it again! Thank you!
Was a great experience with easy access and very informative guide. We did the 90 minute tour and it was worth very minute with excellent explanations of the surrounds.
Beautiful caves with impressive formations, lots of glow worms and a knowledgeable and entertaining guide. A nearby public accessible short walk around the gorge (Ruakuri Tunnels Walk) is well worth an extra hours stroll before/after visiting the caves.
Great experience. Caves very interesting
I don’t know if other tour guides are the same but if you get Anna, our tour guides, she sang two beautiful songs and really enhanced the experience. The tour itself is very informative and encourages asking questions, but the addition of Anna singing made this an unforgettable experience.
