Clifden Caves — Attraction in Tuatapere Te Waewae Community

Wow! What a place, what an activity to do! Not the gentle wander with a couple of crawly sections like we were led to believe 😅 not far into the 1st entrance, we had crawled for most, we and a handful of other groups came to quite a tight section that went for a bit apparently. 1 of our group tried it and was suddenly claustrophobic, that's saying something 🤔 we decided to find the 2nd entrance/exit but found that awkward too. Found the 3rd entrance and was able to get all the way through to the swimming hole (we had come across a couple of other spots we thought were the swimming hole) and chose to turn back only because the swimming hole was definitely to be swum that day and it was icy cold water. Narrow passages and ladders. Glow-worms and a neat spot where you can look down to the raging River (was that day) and we wondered if one part was once to have become a blowhole had things not gone the way they have... so the exploration is just stunning! Be careful of the living growing stalagmites and stalactites and Glow-worms that are in spots you may wish to place your hands to hold onto... wear stuff you don't mind getting muddy. Wet and slippery floor so outdooring sandals...

Read tips below!! Total journey time is about 45min - 1 way Then about 5 min from entrance 3 to the carpark if you just go on the road again.

Tips : take only essentials, i went in with just 2 torches and clothes on my back. literally.

take clothes you're prepared to get wet and dirty. The cave widens and narrows often, its not consistently narrowing DW!

follow the numbered silver signs on the way in from entrance 1 or 2 they will lead you to entrance 3 after the lake and all. but to get to entrance 3 you will eventually need to climb 2 ladders that have been placed inside (after crossing the lake, which is about 5feet deep but can be swam easily or you can walk around the edges which are only about 3 feet deep) There are about 27 signs in total (they are numbered) and 22 signs to reach the lake.

follow yellow signs to go back the way you came.

if you exit using entrance 3 then go left immediately after exiting and this will take you back to the carpark.

Dissapointing to see people's names written literally the entire way through. Millions of years worth of stalagmites and stalactites dismembered for people's unintelligible writing; this was...

If you are even considering whether or not to do this, just go for it!

ROUTE - The path was well marked throughout so no need to get worried about get lost just follow the high visibility tape/arrows. It took about 40 minutes just as the sign said. The caves narrow quite a bit to sections approx 1.5 ft wide and will require a small amount of climbing.

FREE - I would've paid money for this but so happy it was a free adventure. Made it feel like we found a hidden gem since the area was quiet with no queues.

GEAR - We wore active wear, shoes we didn't mind getting wet and head lamps. It definitely pays to have two free hands.

GLOWWORMS - we saw several glowworms at around the halfway point. Not a ton but they weren't even the main attraction at that point. They could be easy to miss if you are constantly looking and turning lights off

SWIMMING POOL - the pool is unavoidable if you plan to go all the way through the cave. The middle of the pool was about 4ft deep, but you can go around the edges keeping to knee deep. We went a day after some light rain so it might have been...