4 Best Sights in Waitomo, North Island's West Coast

This is one of the smallest and prettiest cave systems in Waitomo. Eons of dripping water have sculpted a delicate garden of pink-and-white limestone here. Hour-long tours lead along boardwalks into tall, narrow chambers. Keep an eye out for the resident cave wetas; these native insects grow up to 4 inches long, but don’t worry—they will most likely hide if they sense you coming. Tours meet at the Ruakuri Visitor Centre at the top of Ruakuri Reserve on Tumutumu Road, 3 km (2 miles) beyond Waitomo Caves Village. Reservations are essential.

To enter Ruakuri, visitors descend a dramatic, man-made spiral "drum passage," then go on to explore narrow, low-lit passages. Surrounded by magical limestone formations and the roar of hidden waterfalls, the way follows a dark underground river that twinkles with glowworm reflections. Tours are 1½ hours (reservations essential) and limited to 15 people. This is the longest cave-walking tour in Waitomo, but it's easily managed by people of reasonable fitness. All pathways are wheelchair-accessible. Tours meet at the Ruakuri Visitor Centre on Tumutumu Road.

This company offers three different underground experiences, all incorporating a gentle raft trip and close-up views of glowworms, and a short bush walk to the caves is a bonus. The raft trip, in Spellbound, explores a glowworm chamber that was filmed by Sir David Attenborough for the BBC. Te Ana o Te Atua (Cave of the Spirit) features limestone formations, fossils, and bones. Tours range from 1½  to 2½ hours and are limited to 12 people; advanced booking is advised. Tours depart from Boddies Road, 20 minutes from Waitomo Village. Private tours can be arranged.

The most "genteel" and perhaps famous of all the caves here was first officially explored in 1887 by local Chief Tane Tinorau and surveyor Fred Mace. They floated on a raft of flax stems, with candles for light, into the cave where the stream goes underground. Now visitors enter via a gentle pathway, explore the limestone cathedral (and, like opera diva Kiri Te Kanawa, are invited to test the amazing acoustics), then board a boat for a magical cruise beneath the "starry" glowworm-lit ceiling, floating out of the cave on the Waitomo River. Tours last 45 minutes and start at the Waitomo Glowworm Cave Visitor Centre.