Duration
3 - 3.5 hours
Type
Guided tour
Group Size
Up to 4 guests
Difficulty
Moderate
About This Tour
From glowworm-lit caves to the dramatic scenery of the Mangapū Gorge, this experience gives you the time and space to slow down and capture it properly. With just your group and a dedicated guide (max 4 guests), it’s an intimate, unhurried way to explore.
This tour has a slightly different vibe from our Off the Beaten Track experience, centred around the cave entrance and exit, and the surrounding gorge — where light, landscape, and native bush come together.
Beyond the glowworms, the Mangapū Gorge opens up a rich photographic environment. Capture native plant life, textured limestone formations, and the interplay of light through the forest canopy — all within a rare karst landscape that supports a diversity of native species, which we’re proud to protect.
Our cave system is one of just two in the Waitomo district recognised as “Internationally Significant” by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation — and remains completely untouched.
Photography Equipment and Safety
On our photography tours, you’re welcome to bring along your larger camera and trusty tripod. Take your time and craft the perfect shots. While capturing glowworms can be a bit tricky, the results are absolutely worth it!
For safety reasons, we don’t take photography tours through every part of the cave system. All your equipment will need to be packed in a backpack, as your hands must be free when navigating the tracks. Please note that any cameras and gear brought into the cave are at your own risk.
Be sure to read our photography tips to get the most out of this tour!
Why Choose This Tour
Glowworm Magic
Experience glowworm displays that few ever see this closely or this clearly. With thousands of bioluminescent lights illuminating the cave ceiling like a night sky, you’ll have the rare opportunity to capture long-exposure images that truly showcase their brilliance. It’s a scene that stops even the most seasoned photographers in their tracks.
Bring Your Gear
These tours are built for photographers—so bring the full kit. Your large-format camera, wide-angle lenses, fast primes, heavy tripod, remote shutter, waterproof bags… whatever you need to craft the shots you’re dreaming of. There’s no judgement and no rush; you’ll have the time and space to set up properly and experiment with exposures, compositions, and lighting. We’ve designed the experience so you can shoot without compromise.
Intimate Experience
With a maximum of four guests and no mixed groups, this is a truly private photography adventure. It’s just you, your guide, and the landscape—giving you the breathing room to pause, compose, adjust settings, re-shoot, and fully immerse yourself in the creative process. No crowds. No pressure. Just uninterrupted time to capture something extraordinary.
Exclusive Access
You’ll be exploring a completely private cave system on our family farm—accessible only through our tours. There are no crowds, no modifications, no artificial lighting, and no commercial traffic. This is untouched Waitomo at its most authentic, offering rare shooting conditions that allow you to craft images that feel wild, personal, and impossibly beautiful.
Meet Your Guide
Your local guide isn’t just here for safety—they’re a storyteller, a caretaker of the land, and someone who knows every curve of the cave. Their deep connection to the area brings meaning to the journey, and they’ll share the history, geology, and local legends that make this landscape so special. It’s not just a tour; it’s time spent with someone who genuinely loves this place.
Enjoy an Adventure
This is not a boardwalk cave tour. You’ll be wading through cool freshwater streams, scrambling over boulders, and navigating natural terrain. It’s hands-on and adventurous in the best possible way—opening up unique vantage points and compositions you simply can’t get on a standard cave tour. The raw, unaltered environment is part of what makes the images so memorable.
Step Into a Rare Natural Jewel
As you explore, your guide will share how this rare karst landscape works — and how our restoration efforts help protect the caves, waterways, and native species that depend on it.
Family Run Caving Adventure
You’ll be welcomed into our farmhouse for some proper Kiwi hospitality. Our family has lived in Waitomo for over 100 years. We grew up exploring the incredible glow worm caves and pristine native bush on our family farm, and now we love sharing our piece of paradise with new friends.
How To Find Us
Down to Earth is located at 1199 Oparure Road, Waitomo District.
If you enter our official address (1199 Oparure Road, Waitomo District or Te Kuiti, depending on your GPS), it might take you past our entrance—about 500 meters too far!
We’re not sure why, but most GPS systems struggle to find us. So, trust our signs over your GPS when you get close!
Approximate Travel Times
We’re a small team, so we don’t offer pick-ups, but the Waitomo Information Centre can help with transport options.
- 25 min from Waitomo Caves Village
- 20 min from Te Kuiti
- 25 min from Otorohanga
- 1 hr from Hamilton
- 2 hr 40 min from Central Auckland
- 2 hr 30 min from Auckland Airport
- 2 hr from Taupo & Rotorua
Photographers dream
My husband is a photographer and enjoyed the chance to photograph glow worms without other people in the photos and having time to do photography without being rushed. The cave felt very safe, not scary at all with a lot of interesting formations and lots of glowworms. This is a great opportunity for photographers!
- Irongrl
Long exposure photos with the glowworms
While you can take advantage of being able to take your own photos along the way during the tour, he also will take some photos of your group, including a few composite long exposure photos with the glow worms in the background. ..I would absolutely recommend it to anyone visiting the region who is looking for a glow worms cave adventure.
- Todd
Definitely recommend
We both loved our photography tour with Down to Earth. It was very well organised from start to finish and Ash made the whole experience relaxed and easy. We never felt rushed taking photos and the cave and surrounds are stunning. Really glad we chose this tour, can absolutely recommend this lovely company.
- Road
Highly recommend the Photography Tour.
The tour is limited to one group per 3-hour time slot. This allows flexibility for you to take as many photos as you desire and as long an exposure as you need...I brought my photography gear, including a tripod and a flash. I wish I had a remote release for the camera, because that would have come handy for the bulb exposures.
- Peter Pak
An amazing experience!!!
A pure happiness this visit! Really unimaginable. And the glowworms are so beautiful, it’s just the effect Wow times 1000!
Take this tour, really!
- Alexandre M
Fantastic long exposure photos
We had a fantastic tour through the caves. Lots of great information about the land and caves and phenomenal...and fantastic long exposure photos with the glow worms. Cannot recommend enough!
- David Kossen
Photographic tour adventures
A great opportunity to photograph glow worms in their natural environment. It’s a bit like photographing the Milky Way - I would recommend starting with similar settings to those used in Milky Way photography. Very friendly outfit - Ash was great as my guide.