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| Image: The flooded entrance to Waitomo Glowworm Caves, after heavy rains. |
| Location: | In Waitomo Caves village. From Auckland follow State Highway 1 south to Hamilton, then State Highway 3 south to Waitomo. Caves are signposted. 200km south of Auckland, 70km from Hamilton, 16km from Otorohanga. |
| Open: |
Summer: Labour Weekend (end OCT) to Easter Monday daily 9-17:30.
Boxing Day to 29-FEB additional tour at 20. Winter: Tue after Easter to Labour Weekend (end OCT) daily 9-17. Tours at least every 30 min. [2004] |
| Fee: |
Adults NZD 32, Children (4-14) NZD 15, Children (0-3) free, Family (2+2) NZD 90. Combined with Aranui Cave: Adults NZD 50, Children (4-14) NZD 24, Children (0-3) free, Family (2+2) NZD 130. Glowworm, Aranui and Ruakuri Caves: Adults NZD 93, Children (4-14) NZD 39, Children (0-3) free, Family (2+2) NZD 200. [2008] |
| Classification: |
 Karst cave.
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| Light: | electric and natural (glowworms!). |
| Dimension: | |
| Guided tours: | D=45min, |
| Bibliography: |
J. N. Jennings (1971):
Karst,
Australian National University Press, Canberra (1971).
Jeanne K Hanson (2007): Caves, 142 pp, 16 colour and 30 B&W photos. Chelsea House, New York. pp 75-81 |
| Address: | Waitomo Caves, Private Bag 501, Otorohanga, Tel. +64-7-8788227 |
| Last update: | $Date: 2008/11/16 13:32:23 $ |
| 1887 | first explored by Tane Tinorau, a local Maori chief, and Fred Mace, an English surveyor. | |
| 1889 | Tane Tinorau opened the cave to tourists. | |
| 1906 | cave taken over by the government to protect it from vandalism. | |
| 1910 | Waitomo Caves Hotel was built to accommodate the many visitors. | |
| 1989 | the land and the cave were returned to the descendants of the original owners. |
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| Image: the swallow hole of the Waitomo River. |
The Waitomo Glowworm Cave system has tow levels, the low one is the bed of the Waitomo River, the upper one is dry. There is a connection etween both levels, the 16 metres deep shaft called the Tomo. Visitors enter the cave at the top level and walk down narrow passageways to the low level. The room called the Banquet Chamber is the place where early tourists stopped for meal. Then the path leads further down to the low level with the cave river, along numerous interesting formations.
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| Image: a glowworm. The larva is at the upper rim of the picture, a little left of the middle. Note the vertical threads with sticky bulbs, similar to the web of a spider. |
The largest chamber of the cave is the Cathedral, with a demonstration platform and the jetty. The acoustics in this chamber are world-renowned, Kiri Te Kanawa, the famous New Zealand singer, has sung here and was delighted by the purity of the sound. This large chamber is used as a concert hall now and then. But still the visitors are now told to be as quiet as possible, because sound would disturb the glowworms.
The trip finishes with a boatride through the Cathedral, small boats gently slide into the black darkness. The reason is the main sight of this cave, which gave this chamber the name Waitomo Glowworm Grotto. As the eyes adjust to the dark, the walls and roof start to sparkle like a sky filled heaven. This tiny lights are produced by glowworm larvae (Arachnocampa luminosa). The larvae build webs along the cave walls, similar to spider webs, and try to attract their victims by the light. After eating and growing the larvae pupate and become two-winged flies, which live only a few days for reproduction. They do not have a digestive system. However, most of them become attracted by one of the lights and end in the web of a next generation larva. The glowworms are found all over New Zealand, but nowhere else on Earth.
The entrance to the cave is 500 metres beyond the Museum of Caves. The cave is easily accessible to those with reasonable mobility, with good handrails and paths. The boat ride at the end of the tour ends outside the cave at the spring of the cave river. Independent travellers should try to avoid visiting during the middle of the day when the cave is very busy with tour groups.
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