Waitomo Glowworm & Ruakuri Twin Cave – Private Tour ab Auckland

We were debating between this tour and a tour of the geysers. We decided on this one though because it was a rare experience. Our guide, Mary, arrived on time and we immediately felt her energy. She was personable, accommodating, and knowledgeable about the country’s history. While the caves and their individual attributes were appealing and well worth the journey, Mary’s contributions to our day completely made the trip for us! We were initially weary of the length of the trip & amount of time we’d be spending in a car, but Mary made it such a fun, engaging, and unique experience that it seemed as though she were dropping us off again before we knew it. What we paid per person was more than reasonable and by far exceeded all of our expectations for this excursion. We especially appreciated your commitment to hiring Indigenous women to share their own stories, creating an authentic and meaningful way for visitors to learn about their culture and history.

This is a long write-up with some details if you care to read. TL;DR - What a cool experience! If you have the time, I would definitely recommend taking this tour! The caves are otherworldly. The ExperienceKart Team was excellent from start to finish. *Side note, I have some specific anxieties - water (or rather falling in it), darkness (or rather what’s lurking in it), closed spaces (or rather being trapped), heights (or rather falling from them), and car rides (or rather accidents in one). I have a lot of “what if’s”. But hey, when in Rome - or rather NZ this time. *Another side note - My husband and I didn't find it cold in either cave. We both wore shorts, but brought a sweater. First, the caves: - Waitomo Glowworms - This is the shorter tour of the two caves, about an hour, but it is still a must-see. The massive covering is a marvel to look at if you’re into how a structure is built. It’s just beautifully done. Open, airy, and inviting. When your group/time arrives, your guide will escort you down a short pathway while they tell you a bit about the area and the safety measures. The boat tour was otherworldly. The silence, aside from the dripping water, the people shuffling in their seats, and the slight movement of our vessel cutting through the surface, was both eerie and exciting. The stillness really lets you soak in the atmosphere and let your thoughts sink in. It was amazing! It was like riding the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time in the dark with the “fireflies” flitting around. Although you can’t take any photos in this cave, they do let you take photos coming out and let you stay as long as you like to take photos from the riverside after they drop you off. We got shots of the boat while it was heading back in to pick up the next group. Even the riverside was beautiful and peaceful. - Ruakuri Twin Cave - First, you are able to take photos in this cave, but you have to turn the flash off. They remind you and have you test it before moving any further. Then, you descend on a spiral pathway lit by dim lights at your feet. It’s not a hard walk, and the path is smooth enough for strollers, wheelchairs, and mobility carts to travel with no issues. This is a longer tour on pathways and walkways/bridges, which are only lit where your tour is passing or stopped. It’s best to keep up with your guide/group or risk being in the dark. Some pathways are no longer accessible to the public out of respect for the land and culture. They’ll tell you about it. But it’s still neat to see the paths that others took, once upon a time. You make several stops along the way. The guide will tell you about specific areas, what happened there, why something is, or just some cool information or tidbits about a particular formation. It was really interesting from the little we could hear from the guide. The glowworm section was really cool. It was like the night sky in several places, and you were able to take photos of them here. Just make sure to turn on the night setting on your camera/phone, and stay still while it counts down. Traveling through the caves in this part, you come across a small “lake,” and if you're lucky, you might see some of the Black Water Rafting tours getting in the water close by. We did. **Parents of small children!** Please allow others to enjoy the tour, too! Letting your children weave through everyone during the entire tour takes away from everyone’s experience. Whether they’re on their own, or the few times that you weaved through the group to catch them. It makes some of us stay on the backside of the light, partially in the dark, and not be able to hear the guide. Be safe! Although the caves are relatively safe, there are still hazards! If you’re not willing to keep your kids by your side, don’t expect anyone else to look after them. They’re not anyone else’s responsibility! Don’t ask the kids, “Where are your parents?” The question should be, “WHERE ARE YOUR CHILDREN!?” Yes, we did move to the front near the guide. The children followed, and still we could not hear. Either over the children, or the parents saying, “wait right there”, or “stop and wait for us”, neither of which was working for these parents, or children! Sorry for the rant. Anyhow - I love exploring caves, both look & don’t touch type, and amateur spelunking, and this is by far one of the coolest. If you get a chance, there’s a video documentary playing in the lobby/waiting area that is about the cave, the families, and the building of the structures within. We didn’t get to watch/listen to it all after the children arrived. We asked the receptionist if there was a copy or a video online of it, but she couldn’t find anything. We haven’t found one yet either. :( _________________________ Now for the service we received: I originally booked this tour earlier in our travels, but Vee contacted me a couple of days before to let me know that there weren’t enough people to make it happen. We were fully refunded. They said that there was another tour the following Tues but I didn’t know our plans, so I asked if they could keep in touch with me if a group was forming. On Monday, Vee reached out again to say it didn’t look promising. In the meantime, we spent the week in Rotorua exploring. But we couldn’t stop thinking about the caves. It was the one thing we knew that we absolutely wanted to do, even before we traveled to NZ. So, while we were still in Rotorua, we booked again and crossed our fingers. The only thing was, we were heading back to Auckland on Sunday, and the tour was on Monday. But, when in Rome! On the day, our tour guide called our hotel room at SkyCity to let us know he had arrived and was waiting downstairs. He was a little early, but some of the other tours had us waiting 30+ mins, so that was a nice surprise. He told us that we had time and not to rush. I didn’t realize it when I booked, but this was a private tour. Just our guide, Steve Withel, and the two of us, in a nice, comfy SUV. We were expecting a small group on a small tour bus. This is even better! Steve greeted us kindly, let us get settled, and gave us a goodie bag from ExperienceKart (the company that handled the booking). What a treat! You can tell how much they care about the service they present. We appreciate those little things even though they’re not expected. We had a couple of hours of drive time to the first cave, but it went by quickly. Steve was like an encyclopedia of information about the area, the plants, the people, the culture, the buildings, the waterways, everything! We learned more about the land from him than anywhere else during our travels in NZ. Once we got to talking, I think he loosened up and knew what he could talk about with us, which was pretty much anything. My husband and I are pretty easy-going and respectful on most topics. When we weren’t talking about NZ, we talked about cars, motorcycles, family, work, travels, and wishes for the future - Route 66! There wasn’t much downtime in our conversations. It was really easy, fun, engaging, and entertaining. Steve was a delight and a highlight, not just of this tour, but of our whole trip overall. Steve walked us up to the ticket counter to check us in for both caves, showed us where to wait, find the toilets, vape or smoke, the gift shop, snacks, and where to find him once we were through. He took us to a little restaurant off the beaten path and enjoyed a meal with us. We truly felt like we were just having lunch with a long-time friend. Sadly, it was time to head back to Auckland and part ways. After our tour was done, Karthik checked in on us to make sure everything went well. It had, 100% it had - except that we had to call Steve back because my husband forgot his phone in the car. Sorry again, Steve! We really enjoyed the whole experience. We couldn’t have asked for a better day! - Except that I wish I had taken more pictures! Thank you, ExperienceKart Team - Vee, Steve, and Karthik, for making this day perfect!

Steve Withel was a truly exceptional host/ guide/ driver. Very knowledgeable of the area, and the culture. A plethora of information. The best private tour I have ever had in my travels around the world.

Both caves are very different, and both are a "Must See". Both have Gloworms, but they are very different. (don't do just one cave) Our guide Mary was very educational and entertaining. She made the drive go by quickly as she told us all about New Zealand, and the areas we drove through.

Excellent private tour from Auckland to Waitomo and Ruakuri caves with Marty as our intrepid guide. Ruakuri is an amazing cave - one of the nicest we've seen. We are cavers so take our underground experiences seriosly.

Marty was a great tour guide. He was friendly and shared a lot about the area. The caves were a great experience, well worth the trip.

Waitomo was amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it before! Our guide was great, I can’t recommend the service or the experience enough!

This tour is a great way to see 2 caves in New Zealand. We were picked up from Auckland at our AirBnb, driven to the caves, was able to see the difference in the 2 caves and back. The 1st cave was a little shorter tour but the 2nd cave as a long tour. It was described in Viator as we expected with bio breaks, lunch and snacks provided which was really nice! Karthik was a great driver and provided lots of information as we drove up to the sites... although, it was a little early but necessary if both caves are to be seen! Thanks for a great tour!

Very excellent services with good tour guide. Timeliness ,informative and friendly team. Easy travel and we'll arranged vehicle for seating. Had a wonderful tie😊 Thanks

Ama was great! Knowledgeable friendly! Provided snack bag of local favorites. Communication of schedule and efficiency perfect! Car comfortable and clean. Will always book when in Auckland