132 Rankers Reviews
52 Face-to-Face
2 Caving
1 Waitomo
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Your Spellbound experience begins the moment you climb into our van. Driving to the caves is an highlight in its own right and your arrival is even better, we become immersed in this special limestone landscape by walking down into the Mangawhitikau Gorge where the cave magic begins.
Glowworms make Waitomo famous and Spellbound has the largest display on offer. In addition, we set out to make your glowworm experience very special by ensuring you see glowworms close up, our guide will explain and answer questions and then you will be spellbound by the most amazing glowworm boatride, experienced in total darkness.
This is the display chosen for the Planet Earth's 'CAVES' documentary.
We look after you all the way, refreshments and a toilet stop are provided before the next cave visit.
The Cave of the Spirit is a fully lit walk-through cave and here we show you the special characteristics of our local caves. There's lots of interesting things to see in here and it's a great cave to photograph in with lovely speleothems and really beautiful lighting.
Tour Information
The tour costs $66 per adult
($67.50 from Oct 1, 2010)
Two caves are visited
Group size is small, 12 max
Suitable for people of all ages and average fitness
Duration, 3 1/4 hours
Cameras are allowed
Refreshments are given
Two beautiful above ground walks are included.
Feature | Value | Info |
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Organisation |
Spellbound Ltd Commercial organisation |
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Location |
North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Waitomo |
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Categories |
Showing 8 reviews of 129.
Kylee Langdon
Ranking: 9/10
We had a fantastic experience with Spellbound Glow Worm Tours!
Pete and the staff are friendly and very accomodating especially with our 2 and 5 year old children!
Loved the caves and the boat ride was a bonus!
Thanks so much!
Moira and Tom
Ranking: 10/10
Spellbound Glowworm and Cave Tours- spectacular! Nice small group and very knowledgeable guide. Best money we have spent on an activity in a long time.
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shelagh gastrell
Ranking: 10/10
My family and myself visited 3 caves whilst on a 3 night stay in Waitomo. The 5 of us agreed that, for glow worm splendour, Spellbound was the best. All the caves were beautiful in different ways but Spellbound was the most magical. The bus trip, the cave walk and the boat ride, under a ceiling of glow worms, was awesome.
Peter was very knowledgeable and showed us the worms up close, describing their life cycle, diet and the reason for the glow. Our boys, aged 10 and 12 were fascinated, as were we all.
Nikki Bristol
Ranking: 10/10
Well guided tours around two Waitomo caves, the glow worm boat ride was magical. Highly recommend!
Paddy O\\\'Connor
Ranking: 9/10
We did the trip on the 19th March and both thoughly enjoyed it. Our tour guide was great with a nice sense of humour and the caves were spectacular. The operation had a really nice Kiwi down to earth feel about it and was excellent value for money.
We wish you and your Whanau all the best for the future in these trying times.
Robin Mooring
Ranking: 10/10
We had a great time on our trip to see the Glowworm caves with Spellbound. Our guide was very knowledgeable not only of the history of the caves, local lore, and science of the "glowworms," but also of my random questions regarding plants and other animals.
The experience of being in the caves and seeing the surreal glow of the "worms" in the dark, quiet place was...magical. I felt as if I were looking up at the sky and seeing new constellations.
That the Spellbound company is local and helping tourism in a more personal way, is just one more plus!
Liz Wade
Ranking: 10/10
This was an excellent trip and very good value for money. Although up to 12 people can go on each trip, we were the only two on this one at 9.00am. Norm is very knowledgeable about the area and about the caves. He ensures that you really experience the impact that Glowworms have on your sight. Nothing is rushed and the tranquil trip down the underground river under a canopy of Glowworms is quite magical. We also enjoyed the cup of tea/coffee and biscuits between trips to the caves. The second cave is also fascinating for very different reasons. It’s interesting to see the bones of different creatures who have made their way down to the caves, particularly the moa bird whose remains have been dated as over 38000 years old! This feels like a very personal and privileged tour and we are delighted to have experienced it.
Clive Williams
Ranking: 10/10
An amazing experience, from the moment we stepped into the van, Pete gave us a commentary all the way to the caves. His in-depth knowledge of the glow worms and tour of the caves is well worth every cent and we will definitely come again.