We scheduled a tour with The Waitomo Experience that included spelunking, swimming, caving, and bouldering.  

The last time we were in Waitomo we did The Lost World Experience which was very different, yet similar, and equally over-the-top experience.

This organization has the rights to the Okohua Caves so no other organization can use it.  We are lucky enough to get one of the owners as our guide, Vaughn.

Vaughn took us 40 meters below the surface and traveled about 1.2km down the river.  The track is below in the lower left corner.

We are provided with 5mil wetsuits and jackets, helmets, and wellies. We brought our bathing suits and merino wool tops and socks and were pretty comfortable in the 15c water!

There are gorgeous stalagmites and stalactites throughout the cave.  It is so hard not to touch them as you traverse the rocky terraine.

The Caving Begins

We start off with an easy descent down a ladder about 20meters. 

The first challenge is a “squishy” tunnel, a medium tunnel, or a walk over.  Matt took the squishy tunnel and I took the medium tunnel.

We had several opportunities to squeeze through (spelunk) spaces. 

The headlamp luminated our path while our wellies protected our feet from the sharp rocks.

At times we were balancing on sharp, narrow, slippery rocks, delving into chest deep pools, and crawling over boulders.

Along the way, Vaughn had us pose for unforgettable moments!

There were several places where we saw glowworms.  

We would turn off our headlamps and just sit and admire the beautiful constellation of lights ahead of us.

At one point we hopped on tubes, linked together and floated down the river in the dark.  It was mesmerizing. The dots in the top right photo are glowworms.

We emerged back to the surface two hours later.  It was so sad to leave the magic of this cave!

This is truly an amazing experience.  Super great guides, beautiful cave, small groups, and spectacular experience.

We highly recommend this tour over the standard “boat glowworm tour.” 

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live events.  We took the Waitomo Caving Experience in early February 2026.