There are 2 options of tours in the Milky Way Glowworm Cave. This one, the Starburst Cathedral, is the premium tour, with longer time & distance into the cave to the massive open space called Starburst Cathedral. The tour is suited to adults and age 13 years upwards. If you have children who are a bit younger, who have an interest in science, are very well behaved, then we will allow them to join. The age restriction is due to the in-depth educational experience with lots of talking on the glowworms, cave geology, conservation and history of the cave. This tour is for 90 minutes with about 60–70 minutes in the cave. It starts at the office and you walk 300m to the cave entrance first.
If you want the shorter tour with 30 minutes in the cave and you have younger children or you have reduced physical mobility, then you can book the Milky Way Glowworm Cave Tour.
If you want to use a tripod to take photos of cave formations or glowworms, then this is the tour to go on. You will have about 10-15 minutes in the Cathedral with lights on followed by 15-25 minutes with lights off to see glowworms.
The Milky Way Glowworm Cave was opened for public viewing in 2023 and the deeper section to the Starburst Cathedral opened in 2025. Prior to opening it was kept secret for over a hundred years. It is the jewel of a privately owned conservation park with 320 acres of mostly forested valley and hills with walking tracks, a campground and rock climbing. The Milky Way Glowworm Cave is believed to be the only privately owned and operated walk-in, glowworm, show-cave in the world.
The Milky Way Glowworm Cave featured in the UK travel show Cruising with Susan Calman in April 2025, and German film Das Traumschiff in December 2025, and filmed for New Zealand TV episodes to be released in 2026.
It is important that you know where we are before you buy your ticket. We are about 2 hours, 125km, North of Auckland. We are not in Waitomo.