Auckland Glowworm Tours

Our primary school aged kids absolutely loved the trek in the dark while using the red light. Glow worms were so easy to find, thanks to Charlie our guide for looking after us.

Best experience in NZ--and they were all great! Glow worms at night with a fabulous guide and newly met mates from Australia= magical, scientific, wondrous, sporty and eye-opening. Do it!

The experience was just wonderful, and the tour guide was so helpful and patient! Amazing!

Our guide, Caleb, was fabulous. Very patient, kind and informative. It was an overall great experience. The trail itself had a real mystique about it. Did not disappoint.

It was still pretty bright out and we didn't expect to see too many glow worms but it was unreal. The guide Chris was funny and gave us a lot of information about Auckland and the glow worms. 10/10 would recommend. (Better in person the the photos taken )

Amazing experience. Cannot believe this is in the middle of the city- beautiful

What an amazing experience! It was incredible to see what nature is capable of. I also loved the tour—it was very well explained. Chris explained everything to us and was really cool.

Chris, our guide, is excellent - knowledgeable, friendly, patient, and friendly. Our tour took place on a cold, windy and rainy night. It did look good when we left our comfortable apartment to go outside in the cold rain, but it turns out that those conditions are ideal for glow worms! And we got to see plenty of them. Great tour. Totally worth the price. A unique experience that is so peaceful and beautiful it almost seems spiritual. Highly recommended.

First thing me seeing glow worms. Matias was a great tour guide, very knowledgeable with a good sense of humour. I would definitely recommend to other people.

Matías was a really good and funny guide. He interacted with everyone and answering everyone's questions plus he was extremely friendly

This was a wonderful experience! The guide was so knowledgeable and experienced and you could tell he cared about what he was showing us. I highly recommend it

Great guide and as a local, it was a surprising, fantastic experience.

We didn't know what to expect but our guide was fantastic. She explained the history of the park and the reason why the glow worms were there, and also explained their lifecycle and why they glowed. We went on a great walk through the bush and along the stream in the dark that added to the adventure. Our guide apologised for her English as she had only lived in NZ for two years, but she had nothing to apologise for. If you get the chance then go on this tour. The photos do not do this tour justice.

We had an amazing and unforgettable glowworm experience! Our guide, Legend, was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so much interesting information throughout the tour. He answered all our questions patiently and made sure everyone felt comfortable and engaged. The glowworms were absolutely magical to see, and Legend's passion for the area and its wildlife made the experience even more special. Thank you for giving us such a memorable adventure. Highly recommended!

Great experience. Family friendly activity, our 17, 16, 8 and 7 years olds loved it. Amazing guides with a lot of knowledge. Highly recommend.

Amazing tour and our guide, Maria was very knowledgeable and passionate about her job! She was also very helpful getting my mother down to places to see the glow worms better!

It was cool to see the flow worms and to learn abt them as I never had heard of the before. The guide was great. She was informative and was kind .

A fun adventure in the middle of Auckland. Caleb was very knowledgeable and patient with everyone. My son and I enjoyed the waterfall and the adventure to it.

This was an unexpected treat in Auckland Domain Park. Millie was our guide & did a great job of explaining the glow worms and pointing them out. It was very exciting to see so many of them under the bridge by the waterfall.

My wife and I did the tour at 10 pm. The guide, Millie, was just awesome. She was knowledgeable about the area and the glow worms. It was very relaxed and informative. We saw plenty of glow worms in their natural state with was cool. If you are in Auckland and do not want to drive hours to see the glow worm caves, I highly recommend this tour.

The Auckland glowworm tour was wonderful! I didn’t know what to expect, but I was very surprised that you could see so many glowworms right in the heart of downtown Auckland. I was also presently surprised when we were given information on New Zealand’s rich history, and provided headlamps as we explored the trail at night. I’d recommend this to anyone visiting that wants a sweet introduction to New Zealand’s culture and beautiful nature.

Caleb was our guide for the night and he did a great job informing us of all the glowworms, facts and their life cycle. He kept us safe in the dark and kept a good momentum of talking and walking. I think we counted over 200 then we lost count of how many glowworms we saw.

My wife and I did the Auckland Glow Worm walking tour with our guide Ryan. He was a lovely guy - very knowledgable and clearly passionate about what we were looking at. Above taking us to the best spots, Ryan spoke through facts and info on glow forms and the environment. This tour is great and low commitment considering it’s only an hour and right in the city. Highly recommended!

Very modest, but lovely. You get to see a few colonies of glow worms along the banks of a stream. Great guides, good interpretation. I got tired of all the flashlights and walked off in order to be able to experience the glowworms without all the artificial lights. If you have a red head lamp, do bring it.

A great experience with a very knowledgeable guide. We say tons of glow worms and you could get right up to them. Fee was reasonable. A great experience

We had a wonderful, memorable evening and enjoyed discovering all the glowworms! Guides Sean, Legend, and Bri were knowledgeable and friendly; we learned so many fascinating facts about these creatures. What a fun surprise in Auckland, no need to venture onto a boat or brave claustrophobia in a cave. What a great way to see and learn about these fascinating creatures. Thank you!

Fabulous, different and informative tour. Fun and great experience. Lots of interesting knowledge and great to see them up close. Worth it! 🐛

Our schedule didn’t allow us the drive to the caves and found this company that was local last minute. Appreciate something local and close to our accommodations. Also a great mission of the organization and hope to partake in other activities in the near future. Directions were great but definitely want to pass on some tips: 1. While I was searching for tours I noticed from previous reviews and pics that the path that is used could be unpaved. I went to the mall same day and bought some “throw away shoes” for some of the family. When I mean throwaways it meant I didn’t mind leaving them here if we needed to. I was correct in my assumption… October is rainy and the path had parts that were extremely muddy. Prepare for shoes covered in mud. 2. Bring a bag of changeables including shoes if it’s rainy. Note number one if you don’t have your own vehicle or staying in a hotel. I spent a good amount of time in the park bathroom cleaning everyone’s shoes so that I would not be turned away by the uber driver. Many apologies for the park workers for the muddy floor I did my very best on the sink (OCD Mom here). 3. Invest in a headlamp and red light. Getting down to the waterfall our guide brought a rope to climb down the incline. Totally worth going down. Not at all a bad trip down (you have the option to not go down from the bridge) but when it’s muddy it can be challenging for some especially if you are using your phone in your hand for light. Our guide had a red light but our group was at 9 people and so the light was utilized better when our guide was in front or waiting for everyone passing through a gnarly part of the path. 4. Our guide was fairly new but I know his knowledge and content for his tours will build out as time progresses. 5. We brought an elementary school kid with us and he did fine but since we’re coming from warmer climates we had some hats and layers in our luggage for chilly nights.

What an amazing experience! Our tour began at the Wintergarden cafe at the Auckland Domain, minutes from our CBD hotel. Our guide, Haley, met us right on time and we met our fellow adventurers. Haley's enthusiasm and energy was infectious and she led us to two different sites to view the glow worms. We saw some at each site, and she explained the ecology of these insects as well as pointing out several other interesting facts (and creatures) along our walk. There was some uneven terrain and navigating it by flashlight required some care but it was not overly challenging for the average person. Highly recommend!

Uh, forget about it. This wasn’t a glowworm cave; these were “bush glowworms.” And he had us all turn on our phone flashlights and led us across the street to a fenced-off, closed-off trail, where we squeezed through a hole in the fence and went down the (fortunately not too bad) trail to an area where there was a small waterfall and stream (and a sleeping homeless derelict; yes, they have them here as well).

This was a great walking experience to see the Glow Worms (maggots). The only warning is that the Cafe has no lights and is not open. The meeting place is at the Toilets and Cafe as you are in the dark when meeting up. This is especially important if going Solo.

When booking this 1 hour tour I was really hopeful of a unique and enjoyable family experience. Unfortunately, this tour was a really poorly organised, disappointing and expensive experience for my family. I can't recommend it. We arrived at the appointed time, the area was dark, not signposted and there was no one from the tour company to greet us. We began to worry that we had been scammed. We tried to call the number of the tour company - it was disconnected. We were discussing what to do next when in the darkness we were approached by our tour guide. We were asked by our tour guide to climb around a barrier that banned entrance and walk down a path that had been closed in the Domain Gardens, this felt wrong. The path was not lit and we were given no lighting, there were trip hazards - we used our phones for light. It literally went down hill from there. This is a new tour, I hope it will be improved and I hope the tour company view my review constructively as I take no pleasure in writing honestly about our experience. It cost my family $240 to walk down and back a closed public track to see a very small number of glowworms, not money well spent and I wouldn't do it again.

We were not sure about seeing glowworms in the heart of Auckland city, but we did and the experience was amazing! Our guide, Chris, was very professional and carefull, especially with my boyfriend as we told him he had knee issues. I strongly recommend this tour, especially if you dont’ have time to go all the way to waitomo caves.

This was not what it was represented to be. The agent I booked with in January told me it might have some uneven ground but was very easy. The guide told me that he’d had someone in a wheelchair and on crutches do it. My husband had a heart issue the week before and I had knee surgery in July but it sounded like it would be ok. It was far from it. With more than 25 steps and downhill the first half, the second half was all uphill. It was very strenuous and I was very worried about my husband’s well-being as he had to stop numerous times. Our guide also told us that we were not really seeing glow worms but “larva poop” but if they described it that way, no one would book it. It was all very misleading and I would never recommend it to anyone.

This was pretty cool. The guide Hailey was great and the tour wasn't long. I walked from the city which was nice and easy. The tour kind of builds up with a finale at the waterfall with heaps of glowworms.

The tour was very interesting and Haley was fun and informative. There is a a moderate amount of uneven terrain so wear appropriate footwear for dirt trails. I would definitely recommend. Learned new information so I rate it a plus!

This tour allows you to experience glow worms right in Auckland. We had a great time doing this after dinner, then got an Uber, and returned to our room in 10 minutes.

Chris was a great tour guide. We are so glad we were able to see glowworms without having to travel too far.

social nature movement team organised a lovely glowworm tour for us in Auckland city. It was worth the money and time: neither of which was costly or enduring; close to the city and cheap!