Feb 19, 2025
Extraordinary Experience - No kayak experience required. Guides were excellent instructors and knowledgeable about the area and glow worms. We saw so many glow worms! Was amazing!
Review provided by Viator
Feb 12, 2025
Very professional as... - Very professional as everything was well organised and instructions were well explained so we understood everything at all times and crew were constantly checking we were ok. The tour was interesting and informative and the glow worm viewing was spectacular.
Review provided by Viator
Jan 23, 2025
An amazing experience... - An amazing experience along the river and through the canyon — such a special evening. Thank you to our wonderful guides for all of your knowledge and care. 10/10 recommend this whether you’re in a group or solo traveling!
Review provided by Viator
Jan 17, 2025
Glow Worms and Stars… breathtaking! - We were already in NZ when this trip was confirmed. We had no idea what to expect and had assumed it would be over in about 2 hours. First of all it took one hour to get signed in and fitted for “wet” attire, then we had clear instructions of how to paddle and what was expected of us. Daniel was our trip guide and expert, as well as a few other wonderful souls who joined us. Daniel was full of ecological and geographical info and was so very inspired by his native land! We took off in about 15 kayaks and followed directions to the tee… We left the water for a quick 30 min for more info and a clear explanation of what a glow worm is…. We were given a small local snack, made my Daniel and his team, then back on the water to see the worms. The evening had very much darkened, and gave us clear opportunities to see millions of glow worms, but we believe was even more exciting, was the beautiful clear sky and the millions of stars we were able to see…. Absolutely breathtaking and made the entire excursion worth every penny. We would highly recommend this experience and tell Daniel we said “Hi”. Oh, the entire trip took about 3 hours from start to finish.
Review provided by Viator
Jan 7, 2025
Relaxing and informative kayak tour/ glow worms experience - Great experience with the family. The crew seemed well organized and our guide was excellent. He made sure everyone was comfortable and stuck together. The guide also added good commentary on the history of the lake, information on glow worms and even the evening constellations. Overall a very good evening.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 7, 2025
A magical authentic trip. - Kayaking down the gorge to then come back in darkness and see all the thousands of glow worms was absolutely magical. Daniel - our guide was brilliant - and made the whole event. His knowledge of the ecosystem was incredible and to top it all he even gave us a star by star description of the cloudless night sky. Superb.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 5, 2025
Great private tour, absolutely recommended! - Fantastic tour and absolutely recommended, much better than in a cave , because you combine nature scenes, kayaking, adventure, information and great scenery for fireflies. We did the private tour as a foursome as nothing else was free and I have to say it was the best decision! We had a wonderful guide, great weather, lots of beautiful pictures, got some local delicacies to fortify, were always “alone” although it is not crowded anyway and you can see the fireflies in the wild , on rock faces and in the bush - the children 18/16 were thrilled and so were we.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 13, 2025
Starry starry night - This was a totally different way to experience seeing glow worms so shouldn’t be compared to traditional cave tours. I thought the booking process was easy, with good follow up instructions to find the location. Walter helped check us in via iPad and get us sorted with reef shoes, over trousers, yellow jacket and PFD. organisation was good with storage to put your shoes. The scenery on the water was lovely, and our guide Dan was extremely knowledgeable about heaps of different stuff. I found the kayaking not taxing at all but was nervous in the dark on the water, so didn’t want to loose sight of the kayak in front. Seeing the glow worms was a beautiful sight which was helped by the perfect weather after thunderstorms. I recommend you wear quick dry pants as you get wet from the kayak paddle drips. And have a pair of dry trousers and warm socks and sneakers to put on afterward.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 12, 2025
Sexist tour guide - The glow worms were great, equipment was really well maintained, and the tour itself was well organised. However, they've hired a gentlemen going by "Lofty" who was unpleasant to have as a guide. He was rude and dismissive to myself and my partner throughout the tour, and was repeatedly making regressive sexist jokes at expense of the young lady guide who accompanied him which soured the experience further.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 2, 2025
Too much time wasted, group too large - Only about 15 minutes of seeing the glow worms, spent 3.5 hours getting ready and rowing to the site and back. 23 people in one tour is too many. For the amount of time, it’s not worth it. We went to Spellbound the next day, less expensive, less time wasted and more glow worms.
Review provided by Tripadvisor