Te Anau Glow Worm Caves Tour

This was a fun activity- it was great to learn more about the glow worms and see them up close. The small boat ride was the highlight. Be aware that you go across in a larger group, so there’s some waiting around for your turn to go into the caves.

Fantastic tour through an incredible cave system, with countless glow worms lighting up the darkest areas.

Enjoyable couple of hours. Very knowledgeable guides. You do get a little bit wet in the cave. Hot cup of tea at the end was nice.

The tour left from the Real NZ dock at Te Anu lakeshore, which was super easy to find and you were welcomed by the very friendly staff. A short boat ride across the lake brought us to the glow worm caves. The guides organized us into groups and brought us into the caves. The caves were amazing and very accessible to visitors with scaffolding and adequate lighting. The tour led up to a 15 minute-ish boat ride through a pitch black section of cave to view the glow worms themselves. The lights were fainter than pictures led me to expect, but still quite amazing. It felt a bit like the early Bayou stage of the Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride at Disneyland — except real, of course— if I had to compare the experience to something. After retracing our steps out of caves, the guides treated us to hot beverages and provided a short lecture on the full life cycle of the glow worms, giving perspective to what we just experienced, before the boat took us back to Te Anu. A truly unique experience and not to be skipped if you are in the Queenstown vicinity.

Wear waterproof shoes and ensure to wear warm clothes. Tour guides are very friendly and are happy to answer any questions.

Excellent. Everything ran on time and the staff were great! Recommend for the family................

Very underwhelming experience. The glow-worms were merely dimly lit fairy lights in a dark room. Tour was quite short - 15 minutes or so. Expected longer cave experience for the cost of the tour. Cruise on the water was nice and in itself a nice experience as the views are amazing across the water. Staff were great and can not be faulted. Can’t take photos within the caves, so cannot show how underwhelming the worms were.

I was a little worried this experience might be underwhelming because we had visited the glowworm caves in the North Island before, which were much larger. However, we were pleasantly surprised and had a fantastic experience. The cave here is lower, so the glowworms felt closer to us, making the experience a little different from what we had experienced in the North Island. It was also a bonus being able to take a cruise to reach the cave. We saw so many glowworms, and it was truly magical. It was my family’s first time seeing glowworms, and they absolutely loved it. They said they had never seen anything quite like it. I only wish the limestone cave was larger so there was more to explore, but the waterfall and unique rock formations were still really cool. Our tour guide was also fantastic. He was very informative, entertaining and funny, which made the experience even more enjoyable.

A relaxing boat trip preceded our journey through the amazing tunnels where we witnessed the light show from the glowworms. Nathan was our fantastic guide. He was incredibly patient and attentive to our daughter’s needs. Being disabled, she sometimes requires extra time to process instructions or directions and Nathan was understanding and supportive throughout the experience. His kindness and engaging manner made the experience so much more enjoyable for her and us. Nathan was very informative and interacted in a relaxed and friendly manner. Along with his fellow team members all visitors were made welcome.

This was an amazing experience with 10/10 views, guides and info. Would definitely recommend.