Ruakuri Cave is the world's longest guided underground walking tour and a sight to behold. In this solar-powered grotto, get up close to the glowworms. Spend 2 hours in limestone caves, laced with myth and folklore.

Ruakuri Cave combines some of Waitomo's most captivating subterranean adventures into one enthralling encounter. Explore the delicately folding shawl-like limestone structures and crystal tapestries as you descend through the stunning spiral entrance.

Get up close to the glowworms and hear the distant thunder of subterranean waterfalls. Ruakuri Cave is the world's longest guided underground walking tour and a sight to behold.With clever and innovative design, Ruakuri Cave has full wheelchair and pushchair access.

Location: 585 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo Valley, New Zealand.

Opening time: 9:00 - 15:00

Prices: $29 - $74

Take a boat trip through the glow worm grotto, marvel at hundreds of stunning glowworms, and become a part of almost 130 years of cultural and natural history, which is known as one of New Zealand's top natural attractions.

As gliding softly through the starry fantasy of the Glowworm Grotto, discover an ancient universe 30 million years in the creation and marvel at Mother Nature's light display. As enter this galaxy of tiny living lights, take in the peaceful atmosphere.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves are a must-see because the glowworm (Arachnocampa Luminosa) is only found in New Zealand. Thousands of these small organisms can be seen in a subterranean realm, emitting their distinctive luminous glow.

Location: 39 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo Caves 3977, New Zealand

Opening time: Tours depart every 30 minutes

Prices: $25 - $55

The Te Ana-au Caves, located on the western bank of Lake Te Anau in New Zealand's southwest, are a culturally and environmentally significant system of limestone caves. Lawson Burrows, after three years of hunting and following hints in old Mori stories, rediscovered them in 1948.

It later became a popular tourist attraction for the area because glow worms live in a section of the caves at the lake's edge. The national caving association's unofficial name is Aurora. Because the caverns are geologically young (thought to be 12,000 years old), only one little stalactite can be found.

In allusion to the river flowing through it, the Mori name Te Ana-au can be translated as "The Whirling Cave" Lake Orbell's outflow, Tunnel Burn, is the source of the water. Fiordland Travels was founded by Lawson Burrows and his business partner Wilson Campbell as a tourism company for their investment.

They sold their business in 1965 to Olive and Les Hutchins, who had worked in the tourism industry in Fiordland since 1954. The Hutchins took over the business, but renamed it Real Journeys in 2002. In 2022, the corporation rebranded.

Location: 85 Lakefront Drive, Te Anau, New Zealand.

Opening time: open 7 days - daily departures.

Prices: $35 - $99

Drive east from Takaka to Pohara Beach. Turn right onto Glenview Road at Motupipi, then left onto Packard Road. Rawhiti Cave is signposted from Packard Road at the end through private land to an unofficial carpark.

The travel from Takaka to the carpark takes about 15 minutes. The Dry River is prone to flooding after heavy rain; do not attempt to cross in these conditions. To safeguard the cave's significant kiokarst characteristics, keep to the constructed trail and viewing structure near the cave entrance.

Rawhiti Cave's entrance and twilight zone plants are arguably the most diverse and extensive of any cave in New Zealand. The formation of calcium-based features in the cave is influenced by this flora, which is why the stalactites on the cave roof expand outwards.

Some of the most significant features produced this way occur on the entrance slopes and cave floor, where they are usually overlooked and trampled by visitors. Be aware of falling rocks and slippery surfaces.

Location: Motupipi 7183, New Zealand

Opening time: 11:00–15:00

Prices: $49 - $69

The Waipu Caves track is located on Waipu Caves Road, south of Whangarei near Waipu, off State Highway One. Take Shoemaker Road from Waipu or Springfield Road from the north to get to Waipu Caves Road from SH1. This cave ranks fith on our list of the most beautiful caves in New Zealand.

The Waipu Caves area has weathered rocks and a karst / limestone setting. The name "karst" refers to a type of topography that is characterized by closed depressions or sinkholes, caves, and subsurface drainage that is created over limestone, dolomite, or gypsum by rock solution. Because karst surface formations provide a diversity of habitats for plant species that are restricted to or prefer growing on calcareous soils, karst sites have significant natural heritage significance. They also serve as a safe haven for species that were once more widely distributed across the terrain.

Caves provide habitat or shelter for a variety of animal species that rely on or have adapted to dark, chilly, wet environments with little daily variations in varying degrees. Bats, birds, amphibians, and reptiles' bones are frequently found in caves. Fossil invertebrates, frequently of previously unknown or locally extinct species, can also be found in caves.

Location: Waipu 0582, New Zealand

Opening time: All day

Prices: Free

After a blaze decimated the surrounding forest, bushmen discovered Ngarua Cave by clearing the mountainside of vegetation. The cave was first visited by horse-drawn carriage. The cave was closed for several years after visitors destroyed and removed stalactites and wrote their names on the formations. However, it can't be denied that Ngarua Caves is one of the most beautiful caves in New Zealand.

The cave's most recent addition is a second entrance, which allows one-way excursions through the cave. Several remains of New Zealand's iconic birds were discovered in the cave. On exhibit is a Moa skeleton in its entirety.

There is a so-called touch zone since people tend to touch speleothems, even if the guide instructs them not to. Visitors are allowed to touch a small portion of a limestone formation. We think that's a great concept, because people need to touch things in order to grasp them. The damage to the fragile speleothems is thus limited to a particular location.

The stain of the location also reveals what happens when individuals come into contact with stalagmites.The Lord of the Rings movie featured Takaka Hill as a setting. Chetwood Forest is situated in a distinctive marble karst forest.

Location: Main Road, Takaka Hill, SH 60, Motueka (towards Golden Bay), New Zealand

Opening time: 10:00–15:00

Prices: $10 - $25

In Waitomo, visit the spectacular Aranui Cave, which is located within a natural forest reserve. The old cave formations, towering chambers, and massive stalactites and stalagmites are all worth seeing. Discover one of Waitomo's best-kept secrets by venturing off the usual path.

Aranui Cave is a 5 minute drive from the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and is located in the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve. Ruruku Aranui, a Maori man from the area, was the first to find this hitherto unknown jewel in 1910.

Aranui Cave is the smallest and most fragile of Waitomo's three main caverns, with a natural cave entrance. It has virtually little life beyond its entrance because it is a dry cave with no water running through it.

A colony of native New Zealand cave weta can be found immediately inside the entrance, and further down the cave is the most spectacular collection of stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and ornate formations. An unique, enchanting site steeped in Maori legend and myth is Aranui Cave.

Location: 39 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo Caves, New Zealand.

Opening time: 9:00 - 17:00

Prices: $25.00 - $55.00

The Kawiti Caves are a cave located in Waitomo, New Zealand's North Island. It's famous for having a colony of Arachnocampa luminosa, a glow worm that's only found in New Zealand.

The Ruakuri Cave, Lucky Strike Cave, and Tumutumu Cave are all part of the Waitomo Streamway System.At the entrance to the site, there is a modern visitor center that is mostly made of wood. Tours are available that involve a boat trip beneath the glowworms.

The limestone formation of the Kawiti Caves began about 30 million years ago, when the region was still under water. Earth movement led the hard limestone to flex and bow under the sea and rise above the sea floor, forming caverns.

As the rock was exposed to the air, it separated, forming fissures and weaknesses that allowed water to seep through, dissolving the limestone and forming enormous caves over millions of years.

Location: 49 Waiomio Road, Waiomio 0243, New Zealand

Opening time: 09:00–16:30

Prices: $10 - $35

The Catlins' Cathedral Caves are a must-see for visitors as it deserves one of the most beautiful caves in New Zealand. They have piqued international interest due to their length (the two sea-formed tubes together measure just 200 meters) and astonishing height (up to 30 meters). They are located in cliffs at the northern end of pristine Waipati Beach.

This spectacular natural feature lies 15 kilometers south of the community of Papatowai and 2 kilometers off the highway, and has been popular for decades. A one-kilometer walking trail leads from the vehicle lot to the beach, passing through thick coastal woodland. Visitors pass through Maori freehold land administered by a trust.The course winds through the Waipati Beach Scenic Reserve's podocarp and kamahi forest.

The spectacular Cathedral Caves are a 10-minute walk from the shore. The sea has carved vast caverns up to 30 meters deep into the cliffs' weaker portions. Only one hour either side of low tide can be spent exploring the caves. Go from one cave to another when the timing is right, but be prepared for damp feet!

Location: Cathedral Caves Walk, Otago 9586, New Zealand

Opening time: 5:45 - 21:45
Prices: $2 - $10

Nikau Cave is one of New Zealand's most pure limestone caverns, with hundreds of glow-worms and stunning stalactite and stalagmite formations to delight tourists.

The Nikau Cave is a lighter adventure for people looking for something different, located around 20-30 minutes drive from the Holiday Park in Port Waikato and past the Lord of the Rings film set for 'Weathertop Hollow.' The limestone pillars, stalactites, and stalagmites of Nikau Cave. There are 90-minute guided tours offered, which are frequently muddy and damp. There is a visitor cafe on site, and numerous lodging alternatives are nearby.

A British analysis of in 2020 identified the cave as one of New Zealand's best secret tourist spots. The cave makes for a popular family trip as well as a unique tourist attraction.

Location: 1770 Waikaretu Valley Road, Waikaretu 2695, New Zealand

Opening times: 9:00 - 16:00

Prices: $25 - $55