Kawiti Glow Worm Cave Tour & Opua Forest Walk for Cruise Ship Customers and Public in Paihia/Russell

Explore the magical Kawiti Glow Worm Cave, visit the famous Hundertwasser Toilets, and take a scenic forest walk in Opua. Join this 3-hour tour from Waitangi wharf at 9.30 am. Maori guides with a rich family history ensure an authentic experience.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Kawiti Caves - Our destination is the Kawiti Glowworm Caves where a local Maori guide will lead you through underground caverns to see the glow worms and tell you how the caves came to be found.
    Your 30 minute guided tour will follow a wooden boardwalk (with handrails) through a 200 metre limestone cave system. Once inside, you will see thousands…
What's Included
  • GST (Goods and Services Tax)
  • All taxes, fees, and handling charges
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
Additional Information

This tour is designed for Cruise Ship passengers and the general public staying in the Bay of Islands.
We explore the Kawiti Glow Worm Caves, visit the Hundertwasser Toilets, and enjoy a relaxed 30-minute walk through the Opua Forest. Each tour lasts about 3 hours and departs from the Waitangi wharf at 9:30 am on Cruise Ship days. On other days, the tour…

Location
Waitangi Wharf
Te Karuwha Parade
The tour departs from the Bay of Islands Yacht Club, please check your ticket for departure time. Cruise Ship passengers, please walk to the end of the jetty. You will see our sign (Mullarkey Tours) please check in there.Our contact number is 021 0277 3446. Non
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(139 Ratings)
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1 star
Karin_c
Mar 3, 2026
Great experience with a wonderful guide - Make sure you have the correct address for pickup The cruise ship gave the wrong information how to get there
Review provided by Viator
Emily_s
Feb 25, 2026
Wonderful Small Group Tour with Ingrid - Ingrid was kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. She went out of her way to make sure I was comfortable. She also personalized the tour by pointing out birds for me and even dropped me off at a good birding location after the tour. Because it's a tour of no more than 11 people (we had 5) we got to go to a part of the forest that tour busses can't go to. We were the only ones on the trail, so it was incredibly peaceful. It also meant we had a small group in the glow worm caves which were absolutely fabulous. If you haven't see the caves, please go!
Review provided by Viator
Sarah_b
Feb 20, 2026
Very unusual itinerary -... - Very unusual itinerary - from forests to worms, to toilets? Yes, toilets. Tour guide was very engaging and knowledgeable. The toilets were very interesting. There is a backstory to this stop, so don't let it fool you. Had enjoyable pastry here. Yum! The glowworms were beautiful wish we could have stayed for hours taking in the sites. Can get cool in the cave, so layer. The forest was beautiful as well. The lookout at the golf club was a brief, but beautiful spot to grab a pic.
Review provided by Viator
Anonymous
Feb 13, 2026
We enjoyed this tour!... - We enjoyed this tour! Kamal was a wonderful, informative guide. His communications were timely, kind and helpful. This tour includes many highlights like beautiful Devenport, the worm cave and beautiful rainforest. I recommend this tour!
Review provided by Viator
Monica_j
Feb 1, 2026
Glow worms glow - Very interesting walk into the caves with fantastic guides. You are up close to the glow worms with excellent information about the history of the area and glow worms.
Review provided by Viator
Oldleftcoastdude
Jan 22, 2026
Kawiti glow Worm Cave - If you have limited time, this is the tour to take. The walk in the rainy forest is an experience that you must have when you visit the Bay of Islands
Review provided by Tripadvisor
William_a
Feb 20, 2026
Nice Tour - Our guide was very knowledgeable and took us to several interesting locations. We especially liked the walk through the ancient kauri forest. The glow worm cave was ok but not spectacular.
Review provided by Viator
Stacyg805
Jan 31, 2026
Loss of an hour waiting for Tour - Unfortunately we wasted an hour after arriving at the Cave for our tour. I wish the tour guide could have rearranged the time, so we could have done something else during that time period. When we arrived, we were told 15 mins which then turned into an hour. It seemed the Cave place was confused or understaffed. The walk in the forest was great and a lot of fun. I feel we could have spent more time there, or doing something else.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janacapri
Jan 14, 2026
Beautiful Bay of Island area with crowded Kawiti Glow Worm Cave visit and interesting Kawakawa Hundertwasser experience - Bay of Island tour visiting Bay of Islands golf ground where was Maori treaty signed and Kawakawa city with Austrian architect Hundertwasser toilets. Key point of the tour is Kawiti Glow Worm Cave Tour, however this cave is small and they take too big groups inside with not sufficient time between the groups which is causing delays of the visit. Also it is not possible to make photo of cave inside, but they sell postcards which can be used as memory. Another point was Opua forest walk which is not long walk with ferns forest, but it was raining and the walk was not interrupted...
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Caroline_d
Feb 4, 2026
Poor comms - glow worm and forest worth visiting but not the toilets! - Glow worm experience was worth doing and tree walk but this could have been condensed into a half day tour - adding a trip to ‘toilets’ felt like the trip was being strung out and not a place worth visiting - also poor communication with the time of start of the trip - told to arrive for 9:30am start but then on arrival advised it would be 11:30am!
Review provided by Viator