One of the most magical experiences you can have in New Zealand has to be floating along a river inside a pitch black cave and looking up at the glittering lights of a million tiny glow worms. When you think of Waitomo you probably think about Waitomo Caves - by far the most famous and popular of all the show caves in the area.

But what if I told you Waitomo has many glow worm caves, each offering a different experience and a very different number of glow worms?

Being a little bit obsessed, I wanted to visit several glow worm spots and in this guide I am comparing two of the best.

It’s worth noting that at time of writing both caves are exactly the same price, and we paid full price for all our cave tours so you can be assured this is an unbiased review – as always.

Waitomo Caves vs Spellbound Cave

The glow worm experience

We’ll start with the glow worms, because that is the main reason that the majority of people visit. Both caves offer a boat trip to see the glow worms and both have plenty of them, but the numbers are still vastly different.

As you are not able to take pictures inside Waitomo Caves, the photos in this post are either from Spellbound or another cave (we will tell you which is which!).

*Glow worm close up from Waipu Caves in Northland*

Waitomo Caves

The boat trip in Waitomo is around five minutes long and thousands of glow worms sparkle on the ceiling high above your head.

It’s an amazing experience and it’s something I remember finding so special on my first visit to New Zealand that I wanted to come back and do it all over again.

This is Waipu Caves in Northland - an amazing free glow worm cave — *This is* *Waipu Caves* *in Northland - an amazing free glow worm cave*

The boat trip feels short though, and it’s not really enough time to let your eyes fully adjust, so whilst you still see a lot of glow worms (more than almost any other cave in New Zealand), you will definitely be missing a lot of what is truly there. You wouldn’t necessarily know that if you haven’t seen glow worms before though, as you do still see a vast number.

However, it is nothing compared to what you will see at Spellbound.

Spellbound Cave

Spellbound Cave is quite literally jaw-dropping. It is one of the most magical wildlife experiences I have had in my life and a memory I will treasure forever.

I can’t even begin to estimate the numbers of glow worms in the cave, but safe to say it is vastly more than at Waitomo Caves.

The boat ride is 20 minutes long, which allows your eyes to fully adjust and what you will see is breathtaking.

There is barely a spare inch of space that is not occupied by one of the twinkling blue lights and the ceiling of the cave is fairly low, so they feel like they are shining just above your head.

When you finish the boat trip you will also spend a few minutes walking back through the dry portion of the cave where you will see thousands more glow worms now that your eyes are fully adjusted.

Whoever named this cave could not have picked a better word to describe it. When it comes to glow worms, Waitomo Caves is great, but we’ve never seen anything that compares to Spellbound.

The cave experience

The cave experience at Waitomo Caves and Spellbound is quite different.

In Waitomo you spend the majority of time walking through a dry portion of the cave and then you finish with a short boat trip. At Spellbound it’s the exact opposite.

If you love beautiful formations and want to see a towering cavern known as the cathedral, then Waitomo is definitely the one that will impress you the most.

There are huge numbers of stalagmites and stalactites and other delicate formations. You’ll also learn more about caves in general and this cave in particular, including its Maori history.

In Spellbound Cave you will see a small portion of dry cave with some pretty formations, but the tour is really about the glow worms. However, for an additional $15 (at time of writing) you can add on another cave - Spirit Cave - and this one has a lot more in the way of formations.

It also has some ancient moa bones which I found fascinating. We’ve got a full guide on Spellbound which covers Spirit Cave if you’d like to know more about the experience.

I’d still say that even if you take Spirit Cave into account as well, Waitomo has the most beautiful dry cave, and the huge cathedral in particular is really memorable. We were told about the Christmas concert they hold there, inside the cathedral, and I immediately put it on my bucket list!

The tour itself

We had wonderful passionate guides on both tours and both went above and beyond to make sure you have a fantastic experience (they were two of the best guides we’ve ever had on any tour). Both had a lot of knowledge and were happy to answer any questions.

At Waitomo Caves your guide will be a descendant of the original Maori owners of the land and learning some Maori history was an additional bonus on this tour.

We were very lucky to visit Waitomo during an extremely quiet period, so we didn’t need to worry about big groups and the difference that can bring to your experience. However, generally speaking, at Waitomo Caves you can have up to 60 people on a tour with you and at Spellbound just 12.

Waitomo also has groups back to back, whereas Spellbound only allows one group in the cave at a time. For me that would have made a huge difference as I am not a fan of crowds.

The only other thing to note is that Spellbound is a less slick experience than Waitomo, although that didn’t bother me at all.

The best overall

Although we loved both our tours, you have probably guessed which one was the overall winner. I almost feel bad writing this because we adored our guide at Waitomo Caves and had an amazing time, but Spellbound is the most incredible experience overall.

I doubt I will ever see as many glow worms ever again and it really is a memory I’ll treasure forever. We’ve visited about 40 glow worm spots in the past two years and none have come close to Spellbound - although Waitomo Caves is definitely the second best we’ve seen.

For me Spellbound was outstanding for the number of glow worms and the time spent with them, but also the small group numbers.

Assuming you can’t do both and that’s why you’re reading this, then I would say to pick Spellbound unless you are a real cave formation fan, in which case Waitomo Caves gives you the best of both worlds.

If you’re looking for more amazing things to do in the area, we have a detailed guide on the best things to do in Waitomo, as well as other places to see glow worms around New Zealand.

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