Waitomo Caves

WHERE ARE THE WAITOMO CAVES? We drove from Auckland to Rotorua and on the way we stopped at the Waitomo caves near Otorohanga on the North Island of New Zealand. The caves are about two hours south of Auckland and two hours west of Rotorua so it made a good break in our journey. I really knew nothing about these caves prior to our arrival and was expecting the typical limestone rock formations and variations on stalagmites and stalactites. When we arrived the first impression was not that welcoming as there was some sort of road work taking place and we had to enter through a wooden tunnel which was not that welcoming. The caves were first explored ...  Read the complete review

Waitomo caves is a small village a couple of hours drive south of Auckland in the Waitomo region of New Zealand that is home to a system of caves that are world famous for their glow worms. There are many tours of the caves, with some more adventurous and energetic than others, ranging from sedate boat tours to the blackwater rafting trip we went on: I went on the Rap, Raft and Rock tour, and it was distinctly towards the more energetic end of the spectrum. We were collected from our hostel and driven over many bumpy roads to a shack in the middle of nowhere that housed all of the gear. We put on wetsuits and helmets, some highly fashionable wet ...  Read the complete review

Waitomo is a very small place surrounded by lots and lots of trees. The caves are amazing and a day trip here is a MUST! The caves are natural lime stone caves and were firsted explored in 1887 and were opened to tourists by 1889! so they have been well visited and popular over the many years! They are open from 9 am to approx 5.30pm depending on how busy it is and open 365 days of the year. I spent the day here as part of my backpacking adventure. I went off a full day tour of the caves, which lasted around 7 hours. This was quite a physical day but less physical tours are available to suit all! There are a variety of other trip options from ...  Read the complete review

The hardest part of my gap year was deciding where to go and how long we'd allow in each place. We definitely made a massive error by only giving ourselves just less than two weeks in New Zealand. We chose not to go to South island, which ultimately was another error we made, however it was because of the Waitomo caves that we decided to stay in North Island and boy oh boy did they deliver!!! We'd been on the bus all day, stopping at various beautiful places to go on walks through the forests past stunning landscapes. On the bus we had been told about the Waitomo caves and had been given information about them. I had read about them before we had even left ...  Read the complete review

There is absolutely nothing to do in Waitomo apart from visiting the Waitomo Caves but I would definitely suggest that anyone stops there for a day. There are a range of different activities you can do in the caves including black water rafting, abseiling down into a cave, tubing (flowing down the river in a rubber ring tube) or simply taking a tour around a choice of different caves. The Glow Worm Caves are a must - your tour guide takes you through the caves both walking and a short boat ride and in the pitch black the sight and brightness of the glow worms are amazing. There are literally thousands of them. The Ruakuri Caves are also quite an ...  Read the complete review