The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves

We had pretty low expectation for the glow worm caves. For some reason, to us, it sounded gimmicky.  We planned to turn it up a notch and do the more active version of the tour which including climbing, floating and spelunking. Unfortunately, we ended up booking the wrong dates and had to switch to a last-minute walking-only tour. The workers were all super nice and luckily we were able to get our $250 back <phew!>

We entered the caves, and, in the beginning, it was much like a tour of Luray Caverns (or any other cave for that matter); stalagmites, stalactites, calcium deposits and interestingly shaped chambers. I was starting to think it was a lot of show and would end up seeing few of these precious glow worms. They really took their time getting to the main attraction. After some walking in what seemed to be circles, we made it to a little boat and floated through the caverns. Once it got dark enough BOOM the ceiling came alive with a starry night-like glow. As it truned out it really was beautiful and worth the time and money to see.

No pictures were allowed in the caves so I don’t have much to show you.  I think it is because if you were to take a picture they would probably diminish the spectacle that looks best with the naked eye.

I only got a shot on the way out of the cave so here they are :-/