Exploring Waitomo Caves

After our glorious hike at Rangitoto, we made our way down to Waitomo. Waitomo is a small town with not much to do besides explore these AMAZING glow worm caves. We stayed at the Waitomo Caves hotel (which may or may not be haunted?) for just one night so we could have our caving adventure before driving on to our next adventure.

There are several different packages you can choose when it comes to exploring the caves. We went for the Black Abyss package, which included swimming, zip lining, tubing, climbing waterfalls, enjoying the glow worms and even abseiling down into the cave itself. I have to say, it was pretty awesome!

We started by getting suited up in a wet suit and booties and hopping on a bus. We made our way to the entrance of the cave and got a quick lesson on how to abseil. I think entering the cave may have been my favorite part! It was pretty scary to just lower yourself down into a cave through a not-very-big hole.

Once we made it in, it was time to zip line! The zip line wasn't very long, but it was kind of a crazy experience to zip line in the pitch black with a full cave of glowing worms (they are actually larvae, but glow worms sounds way less gross). They even told us to shout as we went down so we could wake them up for even more of a show!

Along the way, we got to swim up a legit river pulling our inner tubes behind us, only to be pulled back the way we came by our guide. We got to lay on our tubes, look up at the worms and just take it in. It was pretty spectacular.

We got to crawl through tiny cave areas, there was even a slide! It all culminated in climbing up 2 waterfalls to make our way out of the cave.

Some funny parts included: Enjoying a snack that included hot tang of all things. Why hot tang? We actually had two snack breaks. The other hot beverage was hot chocolate, so that was good. Maybe hot tang is a New Zealand thing?

Another part I feel like I should mention the bathroom situation. You're down in the cave for several hours and in a wet suit even longer. Spoiler alert: there are no bathrooms down in the cave. That means, yup you guessed it! nature peeing. It was so weird. They separate the boys and the girls, then have everyone turn off their headlamp and just go in the rushing water. Weirdest experience ever. I almost didn't include this bit, but if I'm being honest, it was one of the most memorable aspects, ha!

A cool long exposure picture taken down in the caves. 

jumping into the river with our tubes from about 8 feet up!

Anyway, after we made our way out of the cave, we rode the bus back to home base for a hot shower and a meal of soup and bagels. The whole experience was an absolute blast! if you are anywhere near Waitamo, you should absolutely stop by! If my caving adventure sounded a bit too involved, there are a whole host of other ways you can explore the caves.

If you'd like help planning your next adventure, visit my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com!