Waitomo Glowworm & Ruakuri Twin Cave Experience - Small Group Tour From Auckland

For us, visiting these two caves was one of the highlights of our holiday. We strongly recommend booking the combination ticket. If you only visit the Waitomo caves, you miss a really great experience. Thanks to our two guides, Wi and Sasha (?).

This is a long write-up with some details if you care to read. TL;DR - What a cool experience! If you have the time, I would definitely recommend taking this tour! The caves are otherworldly. The ExperienceKart Team was excellent from start to finish. *Side note, I have some specific anxieties - water (or rather falling in it), darkness (or rather what’s lurking in it), closed spaces (or rather being trapped), heights (or rather falling from them), and car rides (or rather accidents in one). I have a lot of “what if’s”. But hey, when in Rome - or rather NZ this time. *Another side note - My husband and I didn't find it cold in either cave. We both wore shorts, but brought a sweater. First, the caves: - Waitomo Glowworms - This is the shorter tour of the two caves, about an hour, but it is still a must-see. The massive covering is a marvel to look at if you’re into how a structure is built. It’s just beautifully done. Open, airy, and inviting. When your group/time arrives, your guide will escort you down a short pathway while they tell you a bit about the area and the safety measures. The boat tour was otherworldly. The silence, aside from the dripping water, the people shuffling in their seats, and the slight movement of our vessel cutting through the surface, was both eerie and exciting. The stillness really lets you soak in the atmosphere and let your thoughts sink in. It was amazing! It was like riding the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time in the dark with the “fireflies” flitting around. Although you can’t take any photos in this cave, they do let you take photos coming out and let you stay as long as you like to take photos from the riverside after they drop you off. We got shots of the boat while it was heading back in to pick up the next group. Even the riverside was beautiful and peaceful. - Ruakuri Twin Cave - First, you are able to take photos in this cave, but you have to turn the flash off. They remind you and have you test it before moving any further. Then, you descend on a spiral pathway lit by dim lights at your feet. It’s not a hard walk, and the path is smooth enough for strollers, wheelchairs, and mobility carts to travel with no issues. This is a longer tour on pathways and walkways/bridges, which are only lit where your tour is passing or stopped. It’s best to keep up with your guide/group or risk being in the dark. Some pathways are no longer accessible to the public out of respect for the land and culture. They’ll tell you about it. But it’s still neat to see the paths that others took, once upon a time. You make several stops along the way. The guide will tell you about specific areas, what happened there, why something is, or just some cool information or tidbits about a particular formation. It was really interesting from the little we could hear from the guide. The glowworm section was really cool. It was like the night sky in several places, and you were able to take photos of them here. Just make sure to turn on the night setting on your camera/phone, and stay still while it counts down. Traveling through the caves in this part, you come across a small “lake,” and if you're lucky, you might see some of the Black Water Rafting tours getting in the water close by. We did. **Parents of small children!** Please allow others to enjoy the tour, too! Letting your children weave through everyone during the entire tour takes away from everyone’s experience. Whether they’re on their own, or the few times that you weaved through the group to catch them. It makes some of us stay on the backside of the light, partially in the dark, and not be able to hear the guide. Be safe! Although the caves are relatively safe, there are still hazards! If you’re not willing to keep your kids by your side, don’t expect anyone else to look after them. They’re not anyone else’s responsibility! Don’t ask the kids, “Where are your parents?” The question should be, “WHERE ARE YOUR CHILDREN!?” Yes, we did move to the front near the guide. The children followed, and still we could not hear. Either over the children, or the parents saying, “wait right there”, or “stop and wait for us”, neither of which was working for these parents, or children! Sorry for the rant. Anyhow - I love exploring caves, both look & don’t touch type, and amateur spelunking, and this is by far one of the coolest. If you get a chance, there’s a video documentary playing in the lobby/waiting area that is about the cave, the families, and the building of the structures within. We didn’t get to watch/listen to it all after the children arrived. We asked the receptionist if there was a copy or a video online of it, but she couldn’t find anything. We haven’t found one yet either. :( Now for the service we received: I originally booked this tour earlier in our travels, but Vee contacted me a couple of days before to let me know that there weren’t enough people to make it happen. We were fully refunded. They said that there was another tour the following Tues but I didn’t know our plans, so I asked if they could keep in touch with me if a group was forming. On Monday, Vee reached out again to say it didn’t look promising. In the meantime, we spent the week in Rotorua exploring. But we couldn’t stop thinking about the caves. It was the one thing we knew that we absolutely wanted to do, even before we traveled to NZ. So, while we were still in Rotorua, we booked again and crossed our fingers. The only thing was, we were heading back to Auckland on Sunday, and the tour was on Monday. But, when in Rome! On the day, our tour guide called our hotel room at SkyCity to let us know he had arrived and was waiting downstairs. He was a little early, but some of the other tours had us waiting 30+ mins, so that was a nice surprise. He told us that we had time and not to rush. I didn’t realize it when I booked, but this was a private tour. Just our guide, Steve Withel, and the two of us, in a nice, comfy SUV. We were expecting a small group on a small tour bus. This is even better! Steve greeted us kindly, let us get settled, and gave us a goodie bag from ExperienceKart (the company that handled the booking). What a treat! You can tell how much they care about the service they present. We appreciate those little things even though they’re not expected. We had a couple of hours of drive time to the first cave, but it went by quickly. Steve was like an encyclopedia of information about the area, the plants, the people, the culture, the buildings, the waterways, everything! We learned more about the land from him than anywhere else during our travels in NZ. Once we got to talking, I think he loosened up and knew what he could talk about with us, which was pretty much anything. My husband and I are pretty easy-going and respectful on most topics. When we weren’t talking about NZ, we talked about cars, motorcycles, family, work, travels, and wishes for the future - Route 66! There wasn’t much downtime in our conversations. It was really easy, fun, engaging, and entertaining. Steve was a delight and a highlight, not just of this tour, but of our whole trip overall. Steve walked us up to the ticket counter to check us in for both caves, showed us where to wait, find the toilets, vape or smoke, the gift shop, snacks, and where to find him once we were through. He took us to a little restaurant off the beaten path and enjoyed a meal with us. We truly felt like we were just having lunch with a long-time friend. Sadly, it was time to head back to Auckland and part ways. After our tour was done, Karthik checked in on us to make sure everything went well. It had, 100% it had - except that we had to call Steve back because my husband forgot his phone in the car. Sorry again, Steve! We really enjoyed the whole experience. We couldn’t have asked for a better day! Thank you, ExperienceKart Team - Vee, Steve, and Karthik, for making this day perfect!

Mary was amazing, she was funny and her driving skills was impeccable. She made sure she stopped for us to use the restroom last and get a pick me up coffee on the way to the caves. Raikuru cave was more intimate and less crowded, better experience than Waitakere caves. Waitamo was way too crowded and not that enjoyable, best part was the boat at the end where you get to experience the beauty of the glow worms. Underwhelming

Had an amazing time, the glow worms were absolutely magical, and the caves are a must see. Journey there and back was incredibly comfortable, and Mary was a fantastic tour guide, super lovely, with lots of info on our destinations and the various landmarks on the route. Would recommend !

The guide Mary was very welcoming and knowledgeable, sharing lots of information about the history and culture of New Zealand. The caves and the glow worms are well worth the journey, and the drive itself goes through lots of lovely scenery.

The tour with our guide Karthik was very informative and truly special! He is very knowledgeable and knows exactly how to present information in an engaging and accessible way. In addition to the wonderful cave tours, we also had the opportunity (after asking) to take a spontaneous trip to a local zoo, where we saw kiwi birds for the first time. Overall an amazing experience!! Can absolutely recommend.

The tour was well worth it. Our tour guide Karthik was very informative, focused on keeping everyone safe and even spontaneously fulfilled our extra wish to see some Kiwis. Thank you for a great day!

We thought this tour was excellent. Our guide Karthik was engaging and knowledgeable. The caves were stunning. A full day but totally worth the drive. We would highly recommend this to friends.

Great tour and guide! The glow worm caves and boat ride were exceptional. Highly recommend! Our guide Marty was a wonderful guide. Very friendly, organized, and knowledgable.

Enjoyed both caves. Marty was a fun and reliable driver. Trip to and from Auckland was very scenic. The cave tours were different.