Spellbound Explorer

Tour Description

Take a 5 minute van ride across a scenic limestone studded farm, then wander down down into the beautiful Mangawhitikau Gorge. Here you will discover our Glowworm Cave where the highlight is boat ride with spectacular glowworms. After this explore the further by walking along an ancient dry river bed to Te Ana o Te Atua, the  Cave of the Spirit. Inside, be impressed by its limestone formations, fossils and spectacular views to the sky up through tomo (sinkholes). The tour also includes a tea/coffee refreshment stop between the 2 cave visits.

Booking ahead 

Is strongly recommended because we have only 12 people per departure and tours fill quickly during holiday periods. Morning trips tend to fill first year round.

Tours run daily except for Christmas and Boxing Day (December 25 and 26) and four days a week during winter.

Check in/Cancellations

We depart from 334 Boddies Rd Te Kuiti. Make sure you look up this address on Google Maps so you know where to find us and how long it should take to get there. State highway maintenance in November-December each year can add 10-20% to expected journey times. 

Our tours depart at the advertised time. Check in is 20 minutes prior to departure. Please be on time! Allowances can sometimes be made, so it's worth calling as soon as possible to discuss.

Cancellations; We need  24 hours notice that you wish to cancel for a full refund.  

For less than 24 hours notice,  no refund will be given. 

Bring along 

A warm top or jacket, walking shoes (trainers) and your camera. If you have any questions about visiting our caves, please contact us for more information. We do like to know about any fitness issues or injuries which may affect you during your tour, then we can give you a good indication if our tour will be suitable for you

Fitness and Mobility

You do need to be able to walk for at least 40 minutes at a time over gentle terrain and pathways. We do not climb or crawl anywhere in our caves. There are no stairs in our caves. For those with mobility concerns, you will need to step up 40cm  into and out of a transit van and down 40cm into and out of our raft. We do not take wheelchairs or walking frames.

Medical and Health

Participants with medical or health issues should be aware that an average evacuation to a medical centre from this tour would take 1 hour. It is your responsibility to manage your personal health conditions. You can discuss these with management or your guide. We will cancel your tour and refund you if Spellbound Staff assess that our tour is unsuitable for your level of fitness on the day.

The minimum tour size is 2 participants.

 If you are travelling on your own, you can book, but your booking will only be confirmed once minimum has been reached. We will contact you if this is looking unlikely and we need you to reschedule(normally there will be another tour on the same day).

Hazards of the tour;

Flooding

Our glowworm tour operates beside and on a natural river. Heavy rain can cause the river to flood. We will cancel the tour at any time which the river becomes unsafe or we forecast that it is likely to flood. In the event of a partial tour we will offer a partial refund, for a full cancellation we will fully refund the tour. Your safety is our highest priority and our team are among the most experienced and qualified cave guides in NZ.

If we are concerned that it may flood, we may contact you to discuss how this may impact your visit, options include, visiting before the flood event, cancel and refund and visiting after the water has receded. 

Rock fall

These are natural limestone caves and rock fall or collapse is possible. We manage this risk as well as we can. Events such as seismic activity are beyond our control.

The van ride

We drive over a working farm and there are drop offs and steep sided sections along the way. A vehicle accident is possible. We drive carefully and slowly and maintain our vans properly.

Child safety

Children are the responsibility of their caregivers, children must be supervised by their caregivers, and our guide's instructions must be followed for safety. Our bridges do not have child proof railings so children need full supervision near water.

Please be aware that the caregiver of any upset or crying children may be asked to leave the cave and wait outside to reduce disturbance to others on the tour. 

Photography

Modern smartphones can take amazing snapshots of glowworms
in the night mode, videos are not so amazing yet... 

Below are some tips to make the most of your photography.

Leave your tripod behind unless it is a private photography
tour, other customers do not appreciate tripping over your tripod!

Turn down the brightness of your screen to protect the night
vision of yourself and the people around you.

Your phone is taking a long exposure photo, the longer it

shoots the brighter the glowworms. The more steady your camera is the brighter
the glowworms. It can deal with a small amount of movement, but large movements
will result in star stripes. Because of this photography on the boat ride
produces very low-quality photos. So, most groups prefer to enjoy the boat ride
as a "cameras off" experience.