Home » TRAVEL » The Wonderful Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand (Waitomo Caves)

The Wonderful Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand (Waitomo Caves)

The wonderful Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand need to be on your bucket list! Honestly, I would never lie to you. Going into the caves has to be one of the most awesome experiences I’ve had and awe-inspiring sights I’ve ever seen.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Disclosure: I was given a 20% discount on our 45 minute Waitomo Glowworm tour and Auto Europe car rental. All opinions are solely my own.

As you recall, my husband and I were in New Zealand last month. Before we left LA, the forecast was for 10 straight days of rain in Auckland. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was pretty darn accurate!

Auto Europe car rental in New Zealand

I had decided to “wing it” while we were in New Zealand, only booking a hotel for our first night. We’d check the weather forecast each night/morning and decide which direction to drive, day by day.

It was a pretty good plan, except that some days it was raining throughout the entire North Island, so we simply couldn’t avoid the rain. We picked up our rental car at Auckland airport which I’d rented through Auto Europe. Yes, I used Auto Europe for a car rental in New Zealand! I use them all the time in Europe, but I had no idea I could use them Down Under. Now you know, too!

Car rental in New Zealand with Auto Europe
This was taken later on during our trip-a dry day!

Since it was raining cats and dogs when we picked up our car, we decided to stay in Auckland one more night. We went to a market that had been recommended to us by fellow diners at Eight restaurant at the Cordis Hotel the day before.

In Auckland

La Cigale French Market was a little under the weather, literally, as stall holders spent more time emptying their tarps of rain than doing anything else. I felt as sad for them as I did for us as it was the only chance we had to see this fabulous French market. However, we made the best of it and tried a few things there.

Danish pastry in the rain La Cigale Market
a nutty Danish pastry

We had lunch at Non Solo Pizza and I was impressed! The pizza and porchetta and rapini panino were both excellent! I’d definitely recommend this restaurant.

Porchetta and rapini panino

We truly didn’t do too much this day due to the weather, but luckily, when we woke up the next morning, we spotted some blue sky! Although, our excitement didn’t last too long because it began pouring again within half an hour of us leaving Auckland! Ugh. We checked the weather and decided to head southwest, where it looked as though we’d get some drier weather.

Luckily, our plan worked.

Heading South from Auckland

white bridge in new zealand

Some of New Zealand’s countryside reminded me so much of parts of Britain!

New Zealand countryside

Complete with sheep…

sheep in New Zealand

and cows.

Countryside in New Zealand with cows

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves

I don’t even remember where I read about the Waitomo Caves, but that’s where we decided to go. We arrived in the early afternoon, and went to buy tickets. Remember, it’s summer Down Under in February, so it was a very busy season for them. We were actually lucky to get two spots in the last 45 minute glowworm tour later that afternoon.

Waitomo Caves Discovery Centre

We had to wait about three hours before going on our tour, so we visited​ The Waitomo Caves Discovery Centre’s Museum of Caves. This museum has a great collection of fossils, photography from the early days of the caves’ discovery as well as caving memorabilia.

waitomo caves museum

Then we drove less than half a mile away to go on a short hike into a National Park. We were also fortunate to have time to kill before our glowworm tour or else we’d never have discovered this wonderful hike. If you go to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, add some extra time to include the Waitomo Walkway (we only did part of it). There are many beautiful hikes in this area, including one to a waterfall.

Waitomo walkway

The weather had flip-flopped from the morning and it was really hot by this time in the afternoon. Fortunately, we even had time for a refreshing drink. New Zealand had pretty good cider!

cider in Waitomo

We arrived back at the Waitomo Glowworm Caves in plenty of time for our tour.

Waitomo Caves

Waitomo caves entrance and brochures

The Guided Tour

Our tour guide was Tinz and he was brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour with him guiding us through the caves. He was very informative with a bit of humor interspersed throughout his narrative. You could tell he loved doing his job.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the caves, simply due to safety reasons. It’s extremely dark in certain places within the caves, and sometimes wet. You can only imagine some selfie photography might end badly! However, I was given permission at the end of the tour to take a few photos to share with you!

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

I have yet to explain to you what these glowworms are. Essentially, they are bioluminescent worms that attach themselves to the ceiling of the caves and produce a long, thread which hangs from above. Nothing short of incredibly amazing. This is a sideview for you to see what I’m trying to describe.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

When seen from below, all that is seen is the glow which appears to be a starry night sky! If you’ve been on Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride, it’s reminiscent of that, but everything you see is REAL!

Waitomo glowworm tour
Photo courtesy of Waitomo Caves

We were taken through many different caves. There were stalagmites and stalagtites galore within the Waitomo glowworm caves.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves Then, we loaded ourselves into a boat in pitch darkness. This was my favorite part of the tour as we floated into a part of the cave which is only reachable by boat. It was almost surreal: above us were so many glowworms! It looked like a starry sky on a clear night! Of course, I couldn’t take a photo and it wouldn’t have turned out anyway with such low light. You’ll simply have to go to see it in person!

The caves alone would be worth visiting, but the glowworms are definitely Mother Nature’s pièce de résistance!

Waitomo glowworm caves

Waitomo glowworm caves

Waitomo glowworm caves

It was dusk when we left, but my husband and I would both have loved to explore more of the Waitomo glowworm caves and the area, too. Sometimes, when you don’t make plans, you make a serendipitous discovery, much as we did. However, the bad thing about not planning ahead is that you may arrive when the attraction is closed or booked solid. Pros and cons to both ways of traveling, as in many other aspects of life.

Waitomo dusk view

Waitomo is about 120 miles from Auckland, or a 2.5 hour drive. For more information on the Waitomo glowworm caves and the different tours available, click the link below.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves


I have much more to share with you from our New Zealand trip, so stay tuned!

Don’t miss another recipe or travel post; sign up for my free subscription below!
(I promise not to share or sell your email address, ever.)

 

To get a better idea of what it’s like to be in the glowworm caves, google “glowworm caves” and click on IMAGES. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

27 Comments

  1. I’m always super impressed with caves, we just discovered some small ones in Tucson that are pretty cool. The national park looks lovely and a great way to kill time while waiting for your tour. Every time I see anything about the food in NZ looks pretty fantastic, I definitely want to get to that part of the world one day!

  2. I can’t wait to visit New Zealand someday. It seems like such a beautiful and interesting country. I didn’t even know about these caves until reading your post! What a fun find!

  3. It has been over 20 years since my husband and I visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves – you have brought back some lovely memories.
    It is always a bit cooler (and wetter) in Auckland – come visit Queensland next time!

  4. What a pity it was raining so bad when you visited The French Market (La Cigale). This is such a lovely market with a lot of the stall holders being ‘new’ New Zealanders who have brought their skills from their home countries and the food is wonderful. My husband & I visit about once a month and shop and treat ourselves to lunch while there. Fantastic atmosphere- feels like Paris for a little while!
    As with most places in your own country you don’t always think to visit and the Glowworm Caves is one. It must be 20 years since we were there with our children. I’m glad you enjoyed your visit to them – they are amazing.
    Looking forward to seeing where else you visited and so glad we looked after you.

    1. Yes Mary, it was a shame as I could tell it would have been marvelous if it was a bit drier! Poor vendors were troopers, but there weren’t many customers either. We’ll just have to come back, that’s all! :)

  5. I’ve always wanted to take a trip “Down Under”. This post makes me want to even more, not just for these caves but that beautiful green rolling countryside. The porchetta sandwich doesn’t hurt, either… ;-)

    Looking forward to more posts!

    1. You’d love it, Frank! The quality of the food everywhere was outstanding, and not just how it was made, but the actual fruit and veg, meats, etc. And yes, the countryside, caves and cities are all so worth visiting! Hope you go one day!