The Legendary Blackwater Rafting Company Reviews

Amazing experience on the Abyss tour and the guides made it such a fun time. Very friendly staff and service made the tour even better

Great tour with good sights of the glow worms and staff who were helpful along the way.

What wonderful experience! I ve never heard of glow worm caves until I was planning my trip to New Zealand. The two tour guides were very insightful with interesting facts of the glow worms and historical stories of Maori culture.

Thrills as we like them. Be careful not to be chilly

Best experience ever, jack and Helen were great guides, would recommend this tour to everyone.

One of the best adventures I've ever done!! Thanks Fenton and Michael.

By far the coolest thing we've done in New Zealand - we did the Abyss tour which was 5 hours of spelunking and rafting with a little rappelling and zip line mixed in. The water is freezing, and you'll be exhausted by the end but the crew know this cave like the back of their hand and when they they shut off the lights and tell you to jump into a pitch black void, you won't even second guess it.

The guides Matt and Martin and MAC took very good care of us septogenarians and made us feel safe while enjoying a fabulous adventure

Heaps of fun and really great staff who don't go overboard on the safety stuff but do know what they're going to keep you having fun.

Tour guides were fantastic and the whole experience was amazing. Would recommend to anyone.

Absolutely brilliant, the tour guides were great and very competent. They take really good care of you and make you feel comfortable down in the caves. The glow worms were amazing and there were lots of adrenaline filled adventures too. Loved every minute Thanks guys!

Ladies, make sure you are wearing toggs. No board shorts, as you will not be able to pull the suit up around your legs & hips. It will be very difficult. We had so much fun! I had a great time and the guides are super funny and very welcoming. I think one of our guides names was Dylan.
Be mindful that this is a cave and some parts are narrow and you walk through water most of the way which is rocky. The water is freezing but the suits make up for that lol.
Do it!!!!

We my husband and I did the Labyrinth water rafting for my birthday and it was unbelievable! Our guide, Dave, was amazing he was funny and had a wealth of knowledge of the glowworms and the caves. We absolutely want to come back again!

the staff are friendly and the whole process smooth. even if it's cold outside (we went mid-May so end of fall), the cave water is a constant temp, and they have tight wetsuits to keep you warm. they also have hot showers and warm soup afterwards to warm you back up.

there was a large friendly tuna eel hanging out when we were there so we got a pic with her.

you aren't allowed to bring cameras/phones into the caves (under the guise of dropping them is a huge pita to try and find in the darkness and crevices). while this is perfectly reasonable, especially as one of the guides will have a camera and can take pics as you go, they end up nickle&dimeing you at the end to buy the entire photo package for extra cost (and they aren't exactly cheap). so if you want any pics of your adventure, you have no choice. kind of a jerk move.

In the cave, I participated in Black labyrinth about 150 dollars done in the course of water. About 3 hours a little tour, I fully enjoyed it! I changed clothes to a wet suit as soon as I arrived, I left my baggage as a locker! Cave goes a little narrow. In the water, scenes sitting on floating rings and jumping! It is immersed in whole body water. There was a place with a very high ceiling, it was very pleasant to go to Pukapuka by riding a floating wheel. The group of creatures shining like a star in the darkness was very fantastic and beautiful. Pictures can not be brought in, but the guide shoots in places and can be purchased for $ 35. They excited the tour with a very friendly and enjoyable joke! Remember towels can not be rented! Since you can take a shower after the end, it is safe to bring jump and rinse. Adventure in the dark It is recommended in experiences which can hardly be done!

Absolutely love the adventure. The guide Hannah and Mitch were very professional, nice and considerate. I told them that I might feel dizzy from time to time due to the medicine I took, and they took a good care of me and made sure I was ok the whole time. We had so much fun enjoying the beautiful glow worms and tubing into the water. Had a hot shower and offered some snacks afterwards. Highly recommended!!!

Such an awesome adventure with the best guides (we did the black abyss tour) making us feel safe at all times!

This is by far one of the best trips I've done in my life (The Black Abyss). Our guides, Ollie and Teve (that is definitely not spelt right) were hilarious and so much fun to be with for our time in the caves. The abseiling was exhilarating, and it only got better from there! We were lucky to have a smaller group of 5, which was so much fun. The glowworms were absolutely amazing as well! Climbing through the waterfalls at the end was a challenging and rewarding way to finish off the day. Thanks again to Ollie for taking some awesome photos while down there!

Wonderful team and great experience!! Must do things if you are in New Zealand!!

Booked the 5 hours black abyss tour and it was an awesome experience. Exciting abseiling, jumping, climbing and floating in a glowworm cave was an unique experience. The passionate guides Coen ans George did a great job and cared about every participant so that everybody felt safe. They provided us also with interesting information about the caves, formations and glowworms. I also appreciated that pictures were taken and the snacks provided. Best tour if you want an adventurous cave experience.

Awesome experience, one of those once in a life time, I will never forget it

Amazing experience. You ve got to try this. Their guides are fun people and that adds to the experience

Had a wonderful time on the Black Abyss Tour with Allister and Jackson as our guides. They provided a lot of humor while guiding us safely through repeling for the first time and navigating on how climb up two rushing waterfalls. Thank you making our trip one that we will never forget!

Oh wow what absolute fun. I was a little anxious to say the least but with the great guides that made me feel at easy and the mixture of the group, the amazing sights and the many laughs this is a must to do. Thank you so much x

Loved it. Finished the Black Abyss 5 hour tour and was very well worth it.

Guides are enthusiastic,friendly and are constantly making jokes to keep the group's morale up. This made me the cold a little more bearable(as if the suits weren't enough). The caves are riddled with glowworms that make a remarkable sight when in total darkness.

Heaps of fun! Reasonable amounts of spookiness. Guides were cool as. Recommended!

One of the most fun things we did while visiting New Zealand! We took the black abyss tour, which used a good portion of the day. The crew was very good with making sure we were comfortable with the trek and understood what we needed to do. More

Highly recommend this tour as you won't see anything quite like it anywhere else in the world. Our tour guide, Gail (spelling?), was awesome! He was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and fun to be around. Whether he was joking around or xplaining the cave systems and the origins of the gloworms, he was an awesome guide. My friend was quite nervous about travelling and both guides were attentive of this and made sure she was as comfortable as possible.

7 Oct 2016 - Black Labyrinth
Phenomenal! This excursion was adventurous and action-packed. The guides (we had Demi, Tyler, and Beth) were extraordinary, had high energy, and clearly loved what they were doing. Not for the faint of heart, this trip took you tubing through the glowworm caves, jumping off waterfalls into your tube, wading through fast-flowing water, and shimmying through narrow spaces. Absolutely worth the trip, and pictures were taken by the guides throughout to remember the journey. After the adventure, hot showers awaited along with bagels and hot soup to help you warm up.

We did the abyss tour and it was incredible! If you're up for an adventure definitely try it, but if you want something a bit easier they have loads of other options. Our guides were helpful, knowledgeable, and funny and the views were incredible.

The caves are amazing and the glow worms are just stunning. A unique, exhilarating experience for locals and tourists alike. We did the Blackwater tour, which involved caving and and tubing. It was a lot of fun to climb and jump off rocks; this was physically easy and anyone of average fitness/ mobility would be able to do this tour. No tight spaces or difficult climbs.

Missed out on the 5 stars as the guides themselves were a bit of a let down. They seemed bored, disinterested and made awkward/ mocking comments throughout about our group. Their photography was also disappointing. There were multiple photos of some people and none/ only one of others, and many were blurry. Our group's photos were also considerably worse than the other groups displayed on the screens back at the store.

Absolutely stunning and a gobs of fun. I did Labyrinth, with the inner tubes. Would like to try Abyss if I ever get back to the area. It s a heckuva a trip.

Very awkward, the staff is very kind, very good experience, you can play repeatedly.

The glow worms are incredible! Fun tour through the caves.

I did the Black Labyrinth and it was one of the most fun things I have done on my travels!

Fantastic experience! Great team of people with a sense of humour and very friendly :D

Fabulous experience. Must do. The guides make it enjoyable even for the weak hearted and elderly! Don't miss

Thoroughly enjoyed our trip, both guides were very friendly and helpful. Also patient when one of us was unsure. Katie was our guide through the caves and she was great! I would highly recommend her to anyone doing the Abyss Tour!

Awesome experience! I've been a couple of glow worm habitats but this was just unreal and to do it on tubes in the pitch black makes it even cooler :)

When you exit the caves, there is a short walk back to the car parks. Make note of the walk and the car park location - and come back at night time. The rock walls and cliffs will be glowing like crazy.

The advantage of being able to taste nature is less than five stars.

4 days post Black Abyss and some fingers and toes still are numb from frostbite. Couldn't enjoy it properly because i was cold and shivering very shortly after i landed in the water. I am bothered that in no warnings on their website/tickets that i came across was there explicit mention of such dangers. They mention the water / air temp in the cave, only, from what i found. I never thought of myself as being significantly more weather sensitive than others so i figured i didn't have to take any unusually special precautions. I have never donned a wet/drysuit before so i had no idea what to expect but figured these guys are pro's, 1'000s do this, and I'll be fine. Guides were great though but upon telling one that i was shivering 5 minutes after landing in the water and asked what i should do, he said jokingly stop shivering and probably told me to simply keep moving to stay warm I was so cold i don't really remember much beyond the "stop shivering" bit. I got through the experience but was not comfortable or enjoying it.

Plus, it was a very cold day and the wetsuits, upon changing into them, were cold and wet, and we had to change into them in the freezing outdoor weather without any heat of any kind. Also, shower had no soap or shampoo. I paid a lot of money for this experience and was shocked, frankly, with the issues i addressed in this paragraph.

Absolutely loved the black waters rafting experience: exploring the cave and seeing carpets of glow warms was incredible. The two guides were prepared and very fun and made us feel super safe. We had some issues with our booking and the team at the reception handled the situation in an exemplary way. Not only recommended, you can t miss it!

Awesome company, staff excellent, really great tour :-)

Supercool tour of the caves. Nice tour guides and great care of us with a stop in the cave for juice and cake, and soup and bagels after the tour.

We did the abyss tour and it was great! Our guides were awesome and made us comfortable the whole time. 5 hours sounded like a lot but the time flew by. More intense than I expected at the end when we climbed up a waterfall, that part was my favorite. Very professional and organized.

We loved this experience, the guides were great fun and we forgot how cold and wet we had got because we were having so much fun! Thoroughly recommend but check you have the right photo stick when you leave to save hassle later!

An incredible experience. So unique. Did the Black Odyssey, be prepared for very tight caves and high cave walls. Several hours of adrenaline. The guides were great!

Awesome staff and atmosphere! The food here was amazing, affordable and presented wonderfully

We did this tour and had an amazing experience. The guide made it so much fun. Waterfall jump was awesome and my daughter and us enjoyed it thoroughly. Definitely a must do if you are visiting NZ

Awesome time! Totally worth doing, great value for what you get. Guides are funny and personable, and it's an experience like nothing else.

Amazing food at the cafe, well worth the price, gift shop really reasonable prices

Awesome experience. A combination of caving and tubing underground. One of the best experiences I have had in New Zealand. The company provide all the equipment, so you stay warm and relatively dry. I did the Black Labyrinth (3 hours) and I will be back to do the Abyss (5 hours) one day. The glow worms were spectacular, you drift through so many anazing grottos. The guides were helpful, knowledgeable, responsible and professional. I felt extremely confident in their ability. Overall a great experience that I would recommend to all adventurers out there (and even the not so adventurous).

Fun time! Definitely more of an active family style tour (with old enough kids that won t be scared of the darkness or water). We went tubing on the 3 hour tour and would prefer the longer trek where you get to climb in the upper part of some of the caves.

Did black abyss. Amazing guides. Especially Nikki, she needs a raise :P

The caves were awesome and the guides were absolutely fantastic. They were caring and attentive to my wife who struggles with asthma and arthritis, to the extent that she is keen and confident to come back and try white water rafting next Christmas! She loved the experience.

Awesome day exploring the caves and seeing the glow worms. Recommended

One of the best experiences I've had in my life! We did the abyss! Well worth the money! Not too strenuous either but would recommend not doing this with any serious health issues.

Really great tour of the glow worm caves. 5 hour black abyss tour. First you complete a 40m abseil down into a black cave, then a flying fox into the dark abyss. This was so much fun and the glow worms were so bright. We all jumped off a 5m edge into the water and in the rubber tubes, the water was damn freezing but we all soon warmed up in the wet suits. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable and pretty funny at times, but also very safety conscious as well. I would highly recommend this tour and the nice warm shower and tomato soup at the end was very comforting.

Great experience. Water is cold but wet suits are provided. Great guides.

Fun and friendly staff. Would recommend to anyone adventurous.

The black abyss tour was absolutely amazing. Abseiling into the cave was incredible, and the rest of the tour was just as excellent.

Husband and I did the Abyss tour last season. We had a great time with the tour guides as well as the rest of the group. Tour guides were accommodating, witty and informative. Great for those who love something a bit more exciting.

A great trip through the caves on the inner tubes. Adventure!

Amazing experience ... Really nice guides and safe .. this will give the test of adventure

5 Stars for the 3 hr labyrinth...great adventure and closeup with the glowworms...first time caving experience, and the guys made it easy...the water is cool, but the wetsuit will keep you warm...the cave is pretty long but not too long...not for the mentally or physically challenged folks, but its a once in a lifetime experience,might as well get on with it...the guys were great...nice touch with the bagels and soup in the end...thank you

Experienced the Black Abyss today... wonderful, incredible, amazing don't do it justice. I think you have to try it for yourself since words don't really describe it. Katrina and Simon are awesome and made the experience even better. Having never done anything like this saying I was nervous is an understatement. They talked me off the top platform, through the abseil, a massive hug at the bottom (thanks Katrina), they just made it more awesome. We we're lucky that we had a great group of other to share this with. This has been a major highlight of our time in New Zealand and an experience of a lifetime.

This was an amazing experience! I just did the classical labyrinth, and was tons of fun! definitely a must-do in Waitomo, even better than a 45 -min tour with the traditional waitomo cave admission; rafting in tubes, climbing through the caves during a 3 hour tour is much more fun. Jackson and Dave were really funny and wonderful guides, and staff is also very friendly. highly recommend it all!

Amazing experience with amazing guides
Especially Pippin and Sas!!!

Really fun experience. I did the black abyss. Not as much repelling or ziplining as I expected (only one if each), but the whole experience was an adventure and the guides were amazing and fun

Cold, but a lot of fun! We did the black abyss. Loved all the sections of the visit, but my favourite was floating under the glowing worms.
The staff was very friendly and made us feel safe during the whole visit

One of the best experiences doing the Abyss tour. Rudy and George were amazing guides. Would definitely recommend!

We did the Black Labyrinth tour, which was amazing. Don't worry if you've never done anything like this before. The guides help you through it all & it is so much fun.

Amazing. Our tour guides were great. They showed us everything and encouraged us to try everything. It's worth every penny

Great tour guides, they pay attention to safety while giving you a great adventure. Push you beyond your comfort zone just a little so you end up feeling a sense of accomplishment. Really enjoyed it.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the ethereal glowworms, embark on a refreshing adventure, and learn about the history of the cave as well as other tidbits of information all in one. The service provides wetsuits, fleeces, and shoes, so no need to bring anything apart from your swimwear. The guides are extremely helpful and guide you through every step and difficulty, making the whole experience exciting yet safe. Thank you!

We did the Black Abyss Tour... It was amazing. I really loved it and I was not motivated at the beginning because we landed late in Auckland the night before so I was tired. Everything was well organised, guides were very nice (Jess and Mikel). The 2 afternoon tea breaks were good with really good hot chocolate and tea. I was very afraid for the abseiling but then so proud of myself. If you like adventure and don't be afraid of being wet then it is for you. You feel like an explorer for 5 hours.... Thank you!