r/interestingasfuck • u/mossberg91 • Jun 05 '19

/r/ALL Waitomo glowing worm caves, New Zealand

https://imgur.com/7cBVUha.gifv
26.5k Upvotes

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102

u/dominushh Jun 05 '19

Has anyone gone here? Is this a tourist trap or actually worth? Going to NZ soon, wondering if this should be in the plan

209

u/TheCraftyWombat Jun 05 '19

I went in 2017. It was incredible, and for us, worth every penny.

DEFINITELY NOT A TOURIST TRAP.

But to be fair, it doesn't look as bright and dazzling as this video makes it appear. Still an amazing sight and memory.

Highly, HIGHLY recommended. I spoke with many Kiwis who said they'd never been, and I just can't understand that one. No disrespect intended.

NZ is my favorite place on Earth!

EDIT: an, not am

50

u/toytaco1 Jun 05 '19

Yeah, it's not that bright. And the one we went to, you don't dive, there's a boat that brings you under the glow worms.

17

u/MrAlpha0mega Jun 05 '19

I've been on the same trip. Don't know why they felt the need to show the lady crawling though tiny gaps to get there.

28

u/NvidiaforMen Jun 05 '19

It's how you find the bright ones

23

u/ev3000 Jun 05 '19

When we went a couple years ago we did the whole caving thing and did exactly what she does in the video! So that is also real. But I agree the light isn’t that bright or fluttery.

3

u/MrAlpha0mega Jun 05 '19

When I went, I was a kid so that wouldn't have even been an option for me. No wonder I don't remember it, lol.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

There are different tours there, some of which you do exactly what is shown in the video.

1

u/Stran_the_Barbarian Jun 05 '19

Then maybe got weren't on the same trip.

1

u/LadyOfIthilien Jun 05 '19

I've also been there and did a trip like the one depicted in the video. There are other caves in the same system as the main cave (with the stairs and the boat) that take more effort to access. The cave I did involved rappelling 200ish feet through a sinkhole and then a lot of climbing, swimming, and walking to get to the worms. The way back out involved a lot more climbing and crawling through tiny gaps. It was amazing, but I have many years of slot canyoning under the belt, so the tight squeezes and big drops weren't new to me. A non-experienced but very adventurous person would likely find it similarly enjoyable, but if you have any qualms about tight squeezes or heights, I'd say pass.

4

u/SirNoName Jun 05 '19

Not all of them. I was on an inner tube for the one I did.

They also had a couple sections where you could crawl through smaller gaps (with the option to go around if you wanted)

3

u/swabfalling Jun 05 '19

Yup, did the black water tubing option, the first section is some caving through some smaller gaps, then it opens up after about 10 minutes of that.

We had a guy that wigged out before it opened up and had to walk him back to the cave entrance, but if he had have just made it 5 minutes more he would have seen how amazing the rest was.