Discover Waitomo District

Waitomo Glowworm Cave is on the edge of the village of Waitomo Caves. The Waitomo Caves Museum & Discovery Centre is in the centre of Waitomo Village, with a bus stop right outside the building. From there, the Glowworm Caves are within walking distance. If you’re looking for a hotel in Waitomo District, you can plan around your particular interests: caves, the museum, outdoor trails and underground activities.

Cave knowledge and outdoor trails

The museum is New Zealand’s only specialist cave museum. Its interactive exhibits cover glowworms, fossils, karst landscapes, Māori artefacts and the history of cave exploration in Aotearoa. A visit to the museum therefore brings together natural history, cultural objects and the history of research. As Waitomo’s information centre, the Waitomo Caves Museum & Discovery Centre also sells tickets for the Glowworm Caves, black-water rafting and other adventure activities.

The Waitomo Walkway starts opposite the Waitomo Museum of Caves in Waitomo Village. It passes through classic limestone scenery, follows the Waitomo Stream, and winds through forest and open pasture. The combination of stream, forest and open spaces gives this walk a different focus from the cave visits: here you experience the limestone landscape outdoors, while underground settings take centre stage on the cave visits.

Nearby, the Ruakuri Walk is a loop track through a forested gorge with naturally sculpted rock formations and low limestone arches. The Waitomo Walkway starts opposite the museum and follows the Waitomo Stream, while the Ruakuri Walk is a loop through the gorge. This gives you two different types of route and scenery to consider when planning.

Ruakuri Cave and cave tours

Ruakuri Cave is also nearby. Trails lead through a spiral entrance past limestone formations and crystal-like flowstone curtains. The cave is fully accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs, provided each is no wider than 65 cm. The Ruakuri Caves area is of great spiritual and cultural significance to Māori.

The Black Labyrinth tour takes you along an underground river through fast-flowing currents and includes waterfall jumps in the glowworm-lit Ruakuri Cave. The Black Abyss tour offers a different focus: it includes a rappel into the depths of the cave, a zipline through a glowworm-lit cave and climbing over underground waterfalls. The activities are what set the tours apart: river, currents and waterfall jumps on Black Labyrinth, and rappelling, a zipline and climbing on Black Abyss.

Cultural heritage in Waitomo District

In Waitomo District, Te Tokanganui a noho is part of the Te Kūiti cultural trail. It is the oldest traditional meeting house still in use in Aotearoa, is of national significance, and is a treasured taonga of Ngāti Rōrā and Ngāti Maniapoto.

Food and onward travel

In the centre of the village of Waitomo Caves, Tomo Bar & Eatery serves local beer on tap and hearty food. As food and drink offerings may change, check the current menu before your visit. There are no petrol stations west of Waitomo. So fill up before travelling on in Otorohanga, Piopio or Te Kuiti.

Discover more destinations: Hangatiki, Te Kuiti, Piopio, Mangaotaki.

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