Duration
3 - 3.5 hours
Type
Guided tour
Group Size
Up to 8 guests
Difficulty
Moderate
About This Tour
Our Private Waitomo Glowworm Cave Tour gives you the full Off the Beaten Track experience, reserved exclusively for your group.
With your own dedicated guide, there’s more freedom to explore at a pace that suits you. Take a little longer beneath the glowworms, ask more questions, stop for photos, or simply enjoy having the experience to yourselves.
It’s a particularly good option for families, couples, groups of friends, or anyone looking for a more personal way to experience Waitomo. Private tours also welcome younger adventurers from age 10.
You’ll still get the same natural, unmodified cave adventure — with streams, boulders, native forest and spectacular glowworm displays — along with the story of the land and the conservation work helping protect it.
We provide all the clothing and equipment you need, so you can focus on enjoying the adventure together.
Why Choose This Tour
The Experience to Yourselves
Enjoy the tour exclusively with your own group, without being combined with other bookings. It gives you more space, flexibility and time to enjoy the caves together.
Explore at Your Own Pace
With the tour reserved just for your group, there’s more freedom to slow down, ask questions, stop for photos and spend longer on the parts of the experience that interest you most.
Ages 10+ Welcome
Private tours are available for younger adventurers from age 10, giving families greater flexibility to experience the caves together.
The Full Off the Beaten Track Adventure
You’ll still experience the native forest, untouched caves, underground streams, limestone formations and glowworm displays, while also discovering the native plants and wildlife that make this landscape so special — just with the experience to yourselves.
Bring Your Camera Underground
Phones and pocket-sized cameras are welcome, and your guide will also take photos of your group and email them to you afterwards at no extra cost.
See Conservation in Action
As you explore, you’ll learn about our Pākehō Restoration Project and the work underway to restore our 13-hectare property back to native forest — from planting and pest control to protecting waterways and encouraging natural regeneration, with every visit helping support that work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How physically demanding is the tour?
This is an adventure-style cave tour rather than a simple walking tour, but it’s not an extreme activity. You’ll walk over uneven ground, move through shallow water, climb over large rocks and navigate some snug natural passages. After leaving the cave, the walk back includes hills and just over 200 stairs.
You don’t need to be super fit, but you should be reasonably active, comfortable moving over uneven terrain, and have good balance and mobility. Because this is a private tour, your guide can adjust the pace to suit your group, but everyone still needs to be physically capable of completing the route.
How deep is the water inside the cave?
You’ll walk through shallow underground streams during the tour, so you should expect to get your feet and lower legs wet. The water is generally shallow, reaching around halfway up your shin at its highest, depending on your height.
There’s no swimming, jumping into water or being fully submerged at any point during the tour.
Note: We provide specialist clothing, including boots and socks.
Do I need previous caving experience?
No. You don’t need any previous caving experience or technical skills.
There’s no abseiling, ziplining, swimming or specialist caving equipment involved. Your guide will show you where to step, help you through trickier sections and keep the experience moving at a steady, supportive pace.
You do need reasonable mobility, balance and confidence moving over uneven natural terrain.
Are there tight spaces or crawling?
There are some snug natural passages, and at times you may need to crouch, bend or carefully move through narrower sections. However, there’s no prolonged crawling or squeezing through extremely confined spaces.
Most of the experience is spent walking through larger passages, streams and cave chambers. If you’re concerned about claustrophobia or tight spaces, get in touch before booking and we can talk you through what to expect.
Why is the minimum age 10?
The minimum age for our Private Waitomo Glowworm Cave Tour is 10. Guests need the confidence, mobility and ability to follow their guide’s instructions while navigating uneven ground, shallow water, rocks and tighter natural passages.
Because the tour is reserved exclusively for your group, your guide has more flexibility to adjust the pace and provide extra support for younger adventurers where needed.
Will the tour still go ahead if it rains?
Yes, in most cases. Rain doesn’t automatically mean your tour will be cancelled.
Our standard tour follows the river through the cave, so if heavy rain causes water levels to rise, we may switch to our High Route Tour instead. This follows a natural ledge above the river and still includes glowworms, limestone formations and plenty of adventure.
If your standard tour is cancelled because of high water and the High Route Tour isn’t the experience you were hoping for, you’re very welcome to choose a full refund instead.
When is the best time of year to see glowworms?
Glowworms are active year-round, so there isn’t a single “best” season to visit. Summer is generally busier, while winter is quieter and can offer an even more intimate experience with fewer visitors around Waitomo. Because the caves remain naturally dark throughout the year, you can enjoy the glowworm displays in every season.
What should I wear and what gear do you provide?
We provide all the specialist clothing and equipment you need to keep you safe and comfortable during the tour, including your helmet, headlamp, thermal leggings, fleece jacket, woollen socks and boots.
You’ll change before heading underground, so your own clothing and footwear can stay clean and dry. Your supplied boots will get wet along the way — that’s all part of the adventure.
What is the cancellation policy?
You can cancel your Off the Beaten Track Glowworm Cave Tour up to 48 hours before departure for a full refund. Cancellations within 24 hours and no-shows are non-refundable.
For full details, including third-party bookings and cancellations due to weather, see our Cancellation Policy.
Still have questions?
Visit our full FAQ page for more information about what to expect, what to bring, getting here and preparing for your tour.
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
Unforgettable Experience
Down To Earth was an excellent stop on our tour of showing family and friends around NZ. The tour guide, Ash, made the experience unforgettable with a great dose of kiwi humour and extensive knowledge of the caves to go along with it. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a great experience off the beaten track.
- Hamish M
Great cave and glowworm tour!
If you want a small and personalised experience, this is the one to do. Ash (the guide) was great, fun and knowledgeable. The hot cuppa and bikkies at the end was the perfect way to finish the experience.
- Marty Wiles
Extraordinary Once in Lifetime Glowworms
Choose this tour. Been on others and this is so much more. TONS of time in cave - no rush Pics with glowworms no charge. Experienced guide, Ash, knows SO much about the caves and glowworms. Beautiful countryside farm and scenery. Lovely short stroll through beautiful woods and hills into and out of caves. Its tops notch with a family touch.
- bvillebox
Absolutely incredible experience!
Ash was a great guide, and we had an amazing time. The group was small, which was ideal. The cave was incredible, and the glow worms were epic! 10/10 would recommend.
- Eamon Huijgens
Even Better Than the High Expectations We Had Going In!
Without a doubt one of the bestest, funest, most uniquest things we did during our month Down Under (and we crammed lots of terrific things into this trip)! The cave alone with its subterranean features, river, and eels was a spectacular adventure. But wait, there’s more: the Glowworms! Simply extraordinary. Like looking at the night sky on a pitch-black night.
- Rick S
5 star experience!
If you're not an adrenaline junkie and want a small group, genuine and natural experience then this is the place to go - you will get wet feet, you will clamber over boulders and you will squeeze through some narrow gaps - but that's all part of the fun. Ash was a fantastic guide, sharing his knowledge and passion for the caves and, making sure we were safe at all times.
- Helen Standish
10/5 stars!
This is honestly one of the best tours I've gotten to go on in my life! It was filled with amazing scenery, extraordinary species (glow worms, eels, and crawdads, oh my!), and maintained the perfect balance between epic adventure and a relaxed pace. Their commitment to conservation was also apparent from the get-go.
- Victoria Felt
Challenging, exhilarating, fun!
We loved our private cave tour! Unique experience & certainly not like the 'normal' cave tour. Ash was a fantastic guide - fun, competent & encouraging. Loved all the pics he took for us & his personal knowledge of the caves. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
- Happiness
Thank you for a great memory we will treasure.
My friends and I had a great experience with Down to Earth. Ash made the tour a lot of fun and was always mindful of everyone’s safety. We were able to fully explore some the cave in a small group setting, and were allowed photographs which most other tours do not permit. They also took pictures of our group to fully capture the moment.