Glow Worm Kayak Tour
Description
Come and explore the Rotorua Lakes on a truly unique and magical kayaking experience. This amazing evening adventure takes you along the lake shorelines in a guided scenic kayak tour as you discover small caverns home to a galaxy of glow worms. One of New Zealand's premium glow worm experiences this tour is designed to create a magical and special trip for every customer. Groups are limited in numbers to each of our personal and expert guides ensuring your adventure is the very best it can be. Our authentic, eco-friendly outdoor tours are led by grassroots leadership. We are an activity provider who strives daily to lead by example creating strong connections, positive contribution, and thoughtfulness to the environments we explore.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We recommend that you arrive at least 10 mins prior to the meeting time at the Rotorua Information Centre. Once you meet your guide, you can forget about time altogether!
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult - A minimum supervision ratio of one (1) adult to one (1) child under the age of 16 is required at all times.
- What to bring:
- For kayaking in summer (November - February) we recommend wearing light-weight clothing. Shorts/pants/leggings for your bottom half and at least two layers for your top half. Water friendly shoes are recommended, but are provided free of charge if needed.
- For Kayaking outside of summer (March - October) please wear warm clothing (thermal if possible). Pants/leggings for your bottom half and a minimum of three layers for your top half (which are preferably thermal, fleece, or wool). Please also bring a warm hat and gloves. During our coolest months you will be provided a wetsuit to wear over your clothes. Water friendly shoes are recommended, but are provided free of charge if needed.
- You are welcome to bring a towel and change of clothes for after your experience (it is not often someone gets wet enough to require these items)
Reviews(394)
What a wonderful winter evening experience. I was a bit anxious to start with but Jacob was a fantastic guide getting us all kitted up so we were toasty warm and dry. Such a stunning calm evening to be on the lake - being in the glowworm caves was an amazing experience which was then topped of by some glorious star gazing. Absolutely thoroughly recommend this trip.
Amazing! A great night all around. Fantastic worms, stars, and beautiful night on the water A must in NZ
Stoked to hear it Patrick! Thanks for coming, sounds like you experienced one of our magic winter nights with maximum stars. Kudos for braving the cold, you reaped the rewards!
Amazing experience- glow worms in nature, knowledgeable guides in their own backyards! Easy kayak and such a beautiful place on the water to watch the stars at night. Highly recommended!!
Stunning! So pleased to hear you loved your adventure with us. We sure do love our backyard and sharing it with you so thank you so much for coming to check it out. Hopefully see you again but if not, have the best time exploring more of NZ!
It was an amazing experience. One not to miss in Rotorua. The clear winter night made for a spectacular star gazing evening too. The glow worms were magical and the facts and stories from the guide,Tom, made it more interesting. He was very knowledgeable and passionate about the area, the glow worms and their ecology. Tom and Sydney had top notch service. Thanks for a wonderful evening.
A true pleasure to host you! Thanks so much for coming to see such a spectacular part of NZ. Hopefully the rest of your NZ trip is/was just as magical!
Absolutely Beautiful! My partner and I went and it was just us. It was a beautiful "Private tour" with an absolutely amazing down to earth tour guide. It rained a little but turned out to be a clear night seeing 2 different lights the stars and the glow worms. Could not recommend this tour enough. So beautiful!
Thanks Annalise, you're a gem. What an honour to host such wonderful people, our guides said you and your partner were a joy to chat to. Thanks for coming paddling with us and creating a memory for us. Hopefully we did the same!
This was an amazing experience I very enjoyed it I went in the winter so it was a smaller group which I personally prefer
Hey Belinda, yeah winter time is stunning. Quieter all round and whilst it is cold, it can be absolutely idyllic out there. Thanks so much for spending the evening with us!
One of the top visitor adventures I’ve ever been on!! Expert-level guides whose narration and friendly banter made it a fun, safe and incredibly memorable experience. Definitely recommend for all levels of experience, even for those with reduced mobility. Guides Ellen and Forrest shared so much local knowledge, cultural insights and ecological details - educational and entertaining too. Thanks for a tremendous evening on the water! 🙏🏽✨
What an accolade to be awarded! Thank you so much Lois. An absolute treat to host you, the team were raving about the evening they had. Thank YOU for coming, we love that you created a memory with us. All the best!
Lucked out with a perfect evening weatherwise, dry (in spite of hard rain just before), not too cold, with clear skies to see impressive array of stars, Milky Way, contellations from kayaks on lake. Wish I could recall both names of 2 great guides (Forrest and... Ben?). Both great, worked very well together. I'm an experienced kayaker, but those who weren't seemed to also do fine. We were in 3 genuine caves and 1 other tree-formed cave-like area (a 5th cave was inaccessible due to high water), each different from the others, all very interesting/magical. Learned some more cool glow worm facts, saw the lights of thousands of them. Very special experience.
Those last three words is what we strive hard for! Thanks for summing it up so beautifully and of course thanks so much for choosing us, it was a pleasure to host you. What an evening you had, patience with the weather paid off big time for a night we hope you'll never forget! All the best for your future kayak adventures.
Seeing the glow worm caves was the top of our list for our weekend in Rotorua and this tour did not disappoint! There were 2 families with children aged 10 to 23 and everyone loved this experience. Our guide, Kesha, was knowledgable and engaging. The kayaks were easy to maneuver, with the guide pulling us into the caves. The night sky was perfect so we could easily see the Milky Way and the Southern Cross. Each cave was more spectacular that the one prior. We worried about being cold because it was the fall but wetsuits, booties, and jackets were available to all participants. We all highly recommend this tour!
Eliza, we couldn't be more stoked to read your review! Thanks so much for taking the time to give us some feedback. Sounds like you got a gem of an evening, hard to beat it out there on a starry night. Until next time :)
The staff were very kind, and we got to see so many glow worms. The night sky was also full of stars, which made it such a wonderful experience. The cocoa was delicious too.
Ahhh those starry nights... doesn't get much better hey! Lucky you! Thanks heaps for coming paddling with us, have a wicked time in NZ.
