The Waitomo glowworm caves are one of the North Island's most unique and beautiful natural attractions. The word Waitomo comes from the Māori words wai (water) and tomo (hole), and the caves have over 130 years of history and culture.

There are three locations for you to explore and where you choose to go will depend on how long you're staying in Waitomo and the type of experience you would like to have.

The most popular is the Waitomo Glowworm Cave. There are lots of tours that explore this cave every day, so you shouldn't have any trouble making a last-minute reservation, but I recommend booking in advance! The tour isn't as long as the others, so it’s your best option if you are short on time, only want to see the glow worms, or are travelling with small children.

Ruakuri Cave is 5 minutes down the road. Here, you can book a 1.5-hour guided tour of the cave or take your experience to the next level with Black Water Rafting Co. The rafting tour is expensive ($180-$350 NZD) but well worth doing if you've got money to spare and would like an epic experience.

The third cave you can explore is Aranui Cave. There aren’t any glowworms here, so it’s not as popular as the other caves. But you can see stalactites and stalagmites, and it's a good option if you'd like to get away from the crowds!

I first visited Waitomo Caves when I was very young to see the glowworms, and I loved it. I highly recommend stopping off here on your road trip!