Story: King Country places

Roadside Stories: The underground glories of Waitomo (3rd of 3)

In the early 2000s, the limestone Waitomo caves attracted between 350,000 and 400,000 visitors per year to their spectacular glow-worm grotto and caverns. Caves were first explored there in 1887, and  were managed by the New Zealand government’s Tourist Department from the early years of the 20th century. Today black-water rafting is popular with more adventurous visitors.

Listen to a Roadside Story about the Waitomo caves. Roadside Stories is a series of audio guides to places around New Zealand.

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How to cite this page:

Kerryn Pollock, 'King Country places - Te Kūiti', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/interactive/34680/roadside-stories-the-underground-glories-of-waitomo (accessed 5 May 2024)

Story by Kerryn Pollock, updated 1 Mar 2015