Waitomo Caves & Rotorua Small Group Tour including Te Puia from Auckland | La Vacanza Travel

Waitomo Caves & Rotorua Small Group Tour including Te Puia from Auckland

Duration: 13 hours
Destination: New Zealand, Auckland, Auckland
from
269.33

Check Availability

  • 13 hours
  • Auckland
  • E-Voucher
  • Lowest Price
  • Not-Cancellable

Overview

Visit two of the North Islands most popular attractions in one day - Waitomo Glowworm Caves and Te Puia Geothermal Park and Maori Village in Rotorua. This tour combines the best nature has to offer with Maori culture & New Zealand scenery.

Highlights:
• Waitomo Glowworm Caves
• Te Puia Geothermal Park & Pohutu
• Maori Cultural Village and Arts School
• Rotorua City Highlights

While the destinations you will be visiting are truly spectacular, we at Cheeky Kiwi Travel believe it’s our small groups, guides, the journey and the little details that set our tours well apart. Secret stops, wildlife viewings, specially designed vehicles, complementary refreshments and many other pleasant surprises ensure our tours are an experience to remember.

Our tours are led by our passionate tour guides, notorious for bringing your journey to life by sharing their stories and rich background knowledge, and run in modern, comfortable minibuses packed with extras ensuring your comfort and safety.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Pass By: Auckland Central, Auckland Central, North Island

Your tour starts in New Zealand’s largest city. As we drive out of the city, your guide will not only set the scene for your adventure today, but also point out and guide you past some of the city’s top highlights.

Pass By: Waikato Region, Waikato Region, North Island

Exiting Auckland we drive south through the stunning Waikato countryside, the most extensive farming area in the world. Encounter stunning scenery, mighty rivers, great photo opportunities, beautiful mountains and several farm animals along the way. During this journey we pass through Taupiri which has many interesting sites of cultural significance including local Maori burial grounds & cultural totem poles.

Stop At: Pirongia, Pirongia, Waikato Region, North Island

After passing through rich countryside and learning about some local history and the New Zealand Land Wars we stop in this idyllic little town for a quick coffee break.

Duration: 15 minutes

Pass By: Otorohanga, New Zealand

Continuing our adventure we enter Otorohanga “The Kiwiana capital of New Zealand”. See all things Kiwi as you pass through this unique and charming town.

Stop At: Waitomo Glowworm Caves, 39 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo Caves 3943 New Zealand

Arriving at our first feature attraction you will be guided through the ancient and amazing caves seeing many different cave formations including Stalactites, Stalagmites and Lime Columns before descending even further underground for your Glowworm experience. Board your glow-worm boat for a cruise on the grotto river with thousands of Glowworms sparkling above you. Unique to New Zealand for over 120 years, Waitomo Glowworm Caves are a must-see for any traveller.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Waitomo Big Bird & Miniature Animal Petting Farm, 17 Waitomo Caves Road Rd 7, Otorohanga 3977 New Zealand

On our way to our next destination, Rotorua, we stop outside Big Bird to see and meet some of our local friendly animals. These guys know our guides well and even though we do not have time to go inside the park, the friendly animals will often come to the fences for a photo or two, thrilling guests.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Te Puia, Hemo Road, Rotorua New Zealand

Arriving at our second feature destination, Te Puia, you will receive a fully guided tour to best experience the geothermal and cultural wonders including: Pōhutu Geyser, Māori Architecture, The National Māori Arts School, geothermal craters, geothermal events and even the chance to view a Kiwi bird in the Kiwi viewing house.

Duration: 2 hours

Pass By: Rotorua, Rotorua, Rotorua District, Bay of Plenty Region, North Island

To finish off our Rotorua experience we do a guided driving tour seeing the most famous sites in Rotorua city including: Lake Rotorua, Rotorua Museum, Government Gardens, Whangapipiro (Rachel Spring) & the Blue Baths. If there is time, we may even visit a special souvenir shop for some discounted shopping and to try Manuka Honey.

Stop At: Auckland, Auckland, North Island

Sadly we must start to head north again but your day is not over with a fully guided return trip to Auckland with secret stops along the way.

Duration: 10 minutes

Inclusions
  • Small Group & Fully Guided Tour
  • Entry Tickets - Waitomo and Te Puia
  • Bottled water
  • Snacks
  • Entry/Admission - Te Puia
  • Entry/Admission - Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Exclusions
  • Lunch - opportunities to purchase along the way.
  • Gratuities
  • Souvenirs (available to purchase)
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
  • A moderate amount of walking is involved.
  • Stroller accessible
  • Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately and wear comfortable footwear.
  • Children aged 7 years and below are required to travel in a child safety car seat. If you don't have a car seat one can be provided (with 24 hours notice).
  • Near public transportation
  • Infant seats available
  • Not recommended for travelers with back problems
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Departure Point

SkyCity Hotel Auckland, 72 Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Traveler pickup is offered
Pickups are from the below hotels only. If your hotel is not listed, please select your closest alternative and meet us there. If you are not sure where your closest alternative is, please contact us in advance so that we can advise you.

If you have not yet booked a hotel then please select Sky City hotel as your pickup location. You can update this once your hotel is booked by contacting us or amending your pickup directly through Viator.

Park Hyatt 05:40 AM
Sofitel Viaduct Harbour 05:40 AM
Hilton Hotel 05:40 AM
M Social 05:45 AM
Movenpick Hotel 05: 45 AM
Adina Apartment Hotel 05:45 AM
Copthorne Auckland City 05:45 AM
Nesuto Stadium Hotel and Apartments 05:45 AM
Pullman Auckland 05:45 AM
SO/Auckland 05:45 AM
JW Marriott Auckland City 05:50 AM
Heritage Auckland 05:50 AM
Ibis Budget Auckland Central (Pick up also for CityLife, Barclay Suites, Holiday Inn Express) 05:50 AM
Crowne Plaza 05:55 AM
Rydges Hotel 05:55 AM
The Grand By SkyCity 05:55 AM
SkyCity Hotel 05:55 AM
Four Points by Sheraton 05:55 AM
Grand Millennium Auckland 06:00 AM
Mercure Hotel 06:00 AM
Kiwi International Hotel 06:00 AM
VR Auckland City, 188 Hobson Street 06:00 AM
Cordis Auckland 06:05 AM
Sebel Auckland Manukau 06:15 AM

Passengers that miss their pick up will be required to meet the tour at the tour's first stop at their own expense to continue on the tour. No refunds will be given to late or no show passengers.


Ports

  • Ports Of Auckland (Pick up from M Social Hotel)


Departure Time

06:00 AM


Return Details

Returns to original departure point

Voucher info

You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.

Duration

13 hours


User's Reviews

Heather_S

19 Apr, 2024

Waitomo Caves was the reason I took this trip. Waitomo means Wai (water) Tomo (hole or opening). The caves were first explored in 1887 by local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau accompanied by an English surveyor Fred Mace. Local Maori people knew of the caves existence, but the subterranean caverns had never been extensively explored until Fred and Tane went to investigate. Glow worms have a short life as an adult. After about 10 months of being an egg, then a juvenile larva, then a cocoon, the glow worm finally gets to become an adult fly. The adult fly cannot feed so makes the most of its time by mating and laying eggs until it dies about 2-3 days later. A short life in the dark. Have been to Rotorua and done the sights many times so opted for some lunch and a cup of tea.

Jeannie_J

17 Apr, 2024

Matt, our friendly and informative driver and guide, picked us up within 10 minutes of our assigned time at our hotel. As we drove towards Waitomo, he told us what to expect for the day. We had a bathroom and snack stop. On arriving at the Waitomo Glowworm Caves our guide, Charlie, led us through the dry caves where we saw lots of interesting rock formations and a few glowworms. We then boarded a boat and glided silently through the river in the cave. In the darkness we were able to see many glowworms, like constellations, hanging from the ceiling of the cave! It was a once in a lifetime experience! Onward to Te Puia, in Rotorua, where we had time for lunch on our own in the cafe. We then walked to the geothermal area. We saw bubbling mud with the geyser area in the distance. Then we got to walk quietly through the kiwi enclosure and see two of New Zealand’s national birds! They were much bigger than I thought they would be. It was a short walk to the geyser area and we were lucky to see a long eruption. A little tram took us to the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute where we saw woodcarving and weaving. Matt then drove us through the town of Rotorua, showing us the highlights. Back to Auckland with drop off at our hotel.

Journey48589557378

16 Apr, 2024

Our tour guide was Ali and he was a blast!! He spent time making sure we felt happy and got to know the members in our group. The cheeky kiwi company works hard to ensure that their guests are well taken care of. It is a lot of time spent in the van traveling, but it worked well for us because we didn’t want to rent our own car for this particular trip. You can see so much in just one day!

Brendan_D

14 Apr, 2024

Well thought out and great locations. Dom is a legend, his stories and knowledge provide awesome insight into NZ

Sharon_R

14 Apr, 2024

Company that La Vacanza Travel used for trip, did not pick us up at hotel that was listed, sent a email I didn’t get saying go to another hotel for pick up. So left without us and would not refund money. Have used La Vacanza Travel many times in my travels, lost my 662.00 on this one so not happy at all.

User's Picture Gallery

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A Wonderful Day Trip to Waitomo Glowworm Caves and Rotorua!

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See a lot in a short amount of time!

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Waitomo Caves Tour

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Good tour of the glow worm caves!

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Great experience

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Amazing tour and guide!

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Memorable Rotorua and Waitomo

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Great small group tour

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Good tour, driver and guide

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Outstanding tour, outstanding guide!

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Glowworms, Maori Cultural Center, and Geothermal area

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Great Tour!

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Book this tour to see Glowworms and Te Puia

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Great tour guide - an unforgettable tour

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Wonderful tour!

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The tour was good, the...

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John you're the Best!

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Awesome experience

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One of the best Waitomo and Rotorua tour

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Basic Tour

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Incredible Waitomo Caves and Rotorua

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Fun day in a small group

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Trip to Waitomo and Rotorua

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Great tour to Waitomo, Rotorua and Te Puia

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