Epic Experience Black Water Rafting in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves

On New Zealand’s North Island, under the hills of Waitomo, lies a secret world of water-filled caves where you can map the constellations on the cave’s ceiling.

No, this isn’t a fairy tale; it’s the Waitomo Glowworm Caves.

Photos of the blue-ish glow from the glowworms look like something out of Avatar. You hardly even care that you have to go into underground caves in insulated wetsuits to get to them!

The underground cave networks in Waitomo are hugely popular amongst freedivers. If you’re not quite that adventurous, take a black water rafting tour of the Waitomo Caves to see the fantastical blue constellations for yourself.

I ventured into the glowworm caves and may never be able to go into a cave again; what’s the point when there aren’t beautiful blue glowworms on the ceiling?

A trip to Waitomo is not complete without a trip to these famous caves. Learn what to expect from a trip black water rafting through the Waitomo caves.

✨ I recommend this rafting tour

What Are Glowworms?

Ok so this description isn’t great for people who don’t like bugs. If you’re not a fan, read on to learn about the black water rafting experience and my review of the tubing company I joined.

If you’re still with me, then you’ve brought this on yourself!

Arachnocampa luminosa or the New Zealand glowworm is a species of fungus gnat unique to New Zealand. Neither the word “fungus” nor “gnat” would usually inspire you to visit damp caves, but the glowworms definitely will.

These tiny creatures are larva that dwell in damp, sheltered places. The Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous people, call them “titiwati” or “projected over water.”

It’s a fitting name for the blue reflection that the glowworms cast through the dark caves.

Glowworms only glow while they are larva. They spend 6 to 12 months in their larval state before growing into less appealing fungus gnats.

The adult gnats only live a few days. During this time, they try to procreate as much as possible. And they don’t eat (can you imagine not eating for your whole adult life?!).

As larva, they eat by hanging silk threads from the ceiling. They can spin as many as 70 strands that are up to 30 to 40 cm long. These threads act like spider webs to trap prey.

It is believed that the glowworms glow is meant to attract prey to their threads because the light tricks the prey into thinking they are flying towards the night sky.

You’ll notice I’ve compared them to stars a lot throughout this post. That’s because they really do look like an otherworldly galaxy that you can enjoy as you tube through the Waitomo caves.

Glowworms are sensitive to light. They only glow in undisturbed and in dark places. That is why the Waitomo caves are the perfect habitat: the dark, moist environment is peaceful for the baby bugs.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves: Why Are They Special?

The Waitomo caves were formed by geological and volcanic activity over 30 million years ago beneath the sea. So far, 300 caves have been discovered.

The glowworms live in the aptly named “Glowworm Grotto” within the caves.

To access Glowworm Grotto, you have to go through the underground Waitomo River. Tour companies offer boats, abseiling and tubing rides through the river to see the underground galaxy of glowworms.

I highly recommend tubing, or black water rafting as it’s often called. You’ll be able to get to the more remote areas of the caves to see the clearest views of the glowworms.

The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co.: Review

The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co. is the company that Kiwi Experience works with for glowworm tours. They have been taking tourists to see glowworms for over thirty years.

Black Water works in the Ruakuri Cave, the longest cave in Waitomo. (Interestingly, it is the only wheelchair-accessible cave in the Southern Hemisphere.) They are the only tour operator that works in this cave.

Black Water offers two trips to view the glowworms: Black Labyrinth and Black Abyss. (Don’t let these rather intense names put you off!)

Black Labyrinth is their original tour, where you explore Ruakuri Cave on a rubber tube. You jump backward over waterfalls (they’re only a metre or two high, but it’s still pretty legendary!), climb through the limestone caves and float beneath the living lights of the glowworms in the heart of Ruakuri cave.

An adult ticket costs $147 NZD, which is well worth the three hours you spend exploring the cave.

Black Abyss is a five-hour experience that includes abseiling or rappelling, ziplining, and climbing underground waterfalls. You will satisfy your adventurous spirit by climbing down a 35-metre hole. Halfway through, your guide gives you hot chocolate and a snack in the caves. Groups for Black Abyss are smaller, which helps justify the $255 NZD price.

The tours are very popular and aren’t weather dependent, so book ahead. They run every hour in the summer, but many tour groups use Black Water for buses of up to 60 people.

The Verdict

My experience with the company was entirely positive. Their instructors were good-spirited from the beginning, photobombing my awkward photo in the insulated wetsuit, helping me get the courage to jump backward off a waterfall in a pitch-black cave, and giving us fun facts throughout the journey to help us learn more about New Zealand’s coolest underground activity.

My only complaint was the cold water – which isn’t their fault. But I’ve got to have some sort of negative, right?

Everything went so smoothly with The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co. I had friends who took their longer tour and said the same thing: the guides are incredible, but it’s cold as hell in that water.

Luckily they know you’re cold so they finish the tubing experience with a hot shower, some toast, and a bowl of hot tomato soup.

I’ve never had tomato soup that good before!

If you’re looking for a tour company to go black water rafting in the Waitomo Caves, definitely go with The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co.

✨ I recommend this rafting tour

What to Expect Tubing in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Before you head into the cave, your guide decks you out in a fleece (optional but use it! The water is so cold!), a damp wetsuit with a jacket and socks, boots, and a helmet with a headlight.

It’s not the most fashionable look, but trust me, you’ll appreciate the thick layers.

To get you used to the temperature, you do a test jump off a small pier onto your tube. It helps you learn how to jump off the waterfalls inside the caves while you’re tubing, and gets your wetsuit wet so it can start insultating you.

Once you arrive at the caves, you’ll be sent down single-file. At first, it’s easy to walk through the opening and hop into the underground river. But as you progress, the crevices get increasingly smaller and the thin beams of light from the entrance of the cave fade to blackness.

The river is freezing; you can’t avoid the water when going through the caves. You don’t get gloves, which means your hands get cold—it took me about an hour before my fingers regained their full colour.

You’ll swim part of the way, with a guide at the front and back of the group of tourists. They help make sure you don’t get lost and that you’re keeping up with the others.

Most of the time, you can touch the bottom of the caves with your feet. Others, you need to hold a chain in the wall to ensure you don’t drift off into the inky blackness of the caves.

The best moments are when you’re tubing – or black water rafting, as I learned it was called – through the dark passages of the Waitomo caves. You don’t have to do any work or worry about what might be swimming in the caves with you (I heard gossip of eels but was told it isn’t true. Still… I didn’t want to be the one to prove that wrong).

You’ll spot glowworms along the way, little flickers of blue stars above you as you jump backwards off of one-storey waterfalls onto an inflatable inner tube. But the main event happens deep in the cave when you git Glowworm Grotto.

In the grotto, you settle into your tube, flick off your headlamp, hold the handle of the tube in front of you, and drift silently through the blue-glowing cave.

No one tells you to be silent, but everyone seems to understand that this is a moment for quiet contemplation.

You get to lie back in your tube and gawk at the ceiling where hundreds or thousands of blue specks shine above you. Floating through that field of indoor stars took five to ten minutes, but it was the best part of the whole experience.

It was so dark I couldn’t even see my own hand, and wondered idly if I’d get lost floating down this underground river forever.

But if I was, it didn’t really seem like a bother. Not when I could stare up at the tiny specks of blue glowing above me, reflecting down on the water and making the whole cave feel like we were in another world.

Floating beneath the living lights in the Waitomo glowworm caves while black water rafting was one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had.

✨ I recommend this rafting tour

Is It Worth It to Go Black Water Rafting in the Waitomo Caves?

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves will definitely pop up if you search must-do activities in New Zealand.

After doing a tour with The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co., I can now see why!

It really is an incredible experience that you can only have in New Zealand. While it wasn’t as relaxing as I had expected (my previous tubing experiences were mostly lazy river-oriented), the sight was so spectacular that I didn’t care.

After that, jumping off waterfalls and being told to navigate the river in the dark were less enjoyable. You also start to feel the cold.

By the end, my hair was wet from the water rushing up into my helmet when we jumped in the water and my boots were sloshing.

I felt like a proper adventurer, until we got out of the caves. Then, I just felt like I needed a hot shower.

If you aren’t sure which black water rafting experience to do, I’d stick with the Labyrinth tour. To spend five hours in a cave, you have to really want to do it. I also recommend doing a tubing tour of the Waitomo Caves in the summer, as the water temperature drops in the winter.

I hope you get the chance to experience these natural marvels on your next trip to New Zealand. The blue glow of the glowworms really is worth the trip, even if it means jumping backward off small underground waterfalls.

✨ I recommend this rafting tour

FAQs About Black Water Rafting the Waitomo Caves

Which is the best Waitomo Caves tour?

Where to stay near the Waitomo Glowworm Caves?

How to get to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves?

The Waitomo Caves are 2 hours south of Auckland. You can visit them on a day trip from Auckland, or include them as part of a New Zealand road trip.

To get to Waitomo from Auckland, drive south on State Highway 1 to State Highway 39. Continue until Waitomo Village Rd.

Alternatively, you can reach Waitomo from Rotorua in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It’s an eastern drive along State Highway 5 or State Highway 30.

Combine Waitomo with a visit to the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotorua for an epic weekend adventure in New Zealand.

✨ I recommend this rafting tour

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Photos taken by Black Water Rafting Company and purchased in a photo package.

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