Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 0800 773 552, 07-878 7622;
www.glowworm.co.nz
;
10 Waitomo Caves Rd; adult/child $73/26;
3hr tours 10am, 11am, 2pm & 3pm, closed Jun)
Spellbound is a good option if you don't
want to get wet, are more interested in glowworms than an 'action' experience, and want
to avoid the big groups in the main caves. Small-group tours access parts of the heavily
glowworm-dappled Mangawhitiakau cave system, 12km south of Waitomo (…and you
still get to ride in a raft!).
Waitomo Adventures
CAVING, ADVENTURE TOUR
( 07-878 7788, 0800 924 866;
www.waitomo.co.nz
; 654 Waitomo Caves Rd)
Waitomo Adven-
tures offers various cave adventures, with discounts for combos and advance bookings.
The Lost World trip ($340/490, four/seven hours) combines a 100m abseil with walking,
rock climbing, wading and swimming. Haggas Honking Holes ($260, four hours) in-
cludes three waterfall abseils, rock climbing and a subterranean river. TumuTumu Toob-
ing ($180, four hours) is a walking, climbing, swimming and tubing trip. St Benedict's
Cavern ($180, three hours) includes abseiling and a subterranean flying fox.
Green Glow
Eco-Adventures
CAVING, ADVENTURE TOUR
( 0800 476 459;
www.greenglow.co.nz
; 1117 Oparure Rd, Te Kuiti; 6hr tours per person $220)
Green Glow Eco-Adventures runs customised, small-group Waitomo tours, putting a
caving, rock-climbing, abseiling, photographic or glowworm spin on your day. It's based
in Te Kuiti, 20 minutes from Waitomo.
CaveWorld
CAVING, ADVENTURE TOURS
( 0800 228 338, 07-878 6577;
www.caveworld.co.nz
; cnr Waitomo Caves Rd & Hotel Access Rd)
CaveWorld runs the Tube It ($139, two hours) black-water rafting trip through
glowworm-filled Te Anaroa. Also available are a glowworm-illuminated night abseil
down a 45m crevice called the Glowworm Canyon ($199, two hours), or the Footwhistle
Glowworm Cave Tour ($55, one hour).
Kiwi Cave Rafting
CAVING, ADVENTURE TOUR
( 07-873 9149, 0800 228 372;
www.caveraft.com
; 95 Waitomo Caves Rd)
These small-group
expeditions (five hours, $225) start with abseil training, followed by a 27m descent into a
natural cave, and then a float along a subterranean river on an inner tube with plenty of
glowworms. After some caving, a belayed rock climb up a 20m cliff brings you to the
surface. A three-hour dry tour ($125) without the inner-tube adventure is also available.
