Think about rafting in a dark cave with glowworms enlightening the space. You would feel to be surrounded by stars in the middle of the Universe! That’s the legendary Black Water Rafting at the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, unmissable activity in New Zealand!
How to book the “Black Water Rafting” in New Zealand?
There are several providers working in various caves around the Waitomo area. They also organize a bunch of different activities inside the caves. I suggest you to choose the most complete package, which is usually called “Black Water Rafting”. Ask at your hostel in Auckland or at any travel agencies for backpackers that you will find along the route.
It is better for you to spend the night in Hamilton, small town nearby, and drive to the caves for the morning tour.
An adventure inside the Waitomo Glowworm Caves
I was very lucky that no one else was on my tour. Just me and my friend Andrea. So no boring waiting for slow people and a much better and intense experience!
First, we abseiled for about 25 metres to reach the entrance of the cave.
Then we got inside the cave, turned on the headlamps and started to venture in the dark. We had to take the tubes with us, coz we would be rafting later. The water was super cold and if not for our lamps, it would be completely dark. After almost an hour walking/crawling in the cave, the guide told us to stop.
He shut our lamps and it got completely dark inside. We couldn’t see anything. Then he heard a strong noise that literally made us jump! They guide hit the water with his tube. All of a sudden, a myriad of fluorescent lights appeared all around the cave walls. It was magic! I really felt to be in Universe surrounded by thousands of stars…
The guide explained us that the noise and vibration led the worms to enlighten.
Glowworms: discover more
The light comes from the glowworms at their larva stage, which they maintain for 9 months. After they reach adult life, they only live 4 days. Check out this article from the NY Times to discover more about the glowworms: (link).
Black Water Rafting and tricky passages
Then we took our tubes and started rafting inside the dark cave. To be honest, this was the least exciting part of the tour as the water goes quite slow and it is not a real rafting experience that you can have on a larger open river. I did a badass rafting in Sri Lanka which was far more adventurous.
However, the rafting itself didn’t last that long and we kept exploring the caves through some narrow paths and tricky passages inside the rocks.
This was so much fun and I literally got stuck inside the rocks several times!
The guide will take plenty of photos during the activity and try to sell them to you at the end. Unfortunately my photos have a very low quality, as you see. In fact, as a backpacker on a budget, I preferred to take pics from the screen where the guide was showing us all the photos, instead of buying the package and get them sent to me by email.
After almost 3 hours of walking, crawling, swimming and rafting inside the caves, dripping wet, we were out in the sun! One more thing to do, rock climbing up from where we abseiled before. It looked impossible from the bottom, but once I started it, I found it not too difficult.
Amazing experience, you should definitely include it during your trip in New Zealand!
Top 3 adventure activities in New Zealand
Black Water Rafting at the Waitomo Glowworm Caves belongs to my top 3 adventure activities to do in New Zealand! Together with it, the other 2 unmissable experiences you need to do are:
After Waitomo you will probably keep travelling New Zealand towards South! Waitomo is in the North Island and it is usually the 2nd or 3rd stop after Auckland! You will have plenty of fantastic places to explore in the North island, plus the insane landscapes and adrenaline activities in the South Island!
Check out this article to find the best stops and things to do for a Road Trip in New Zealand!
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