Nikau Cave & Cafe is a family-run farm venture on the North Waikato west coast at Waikaretu — less than 90 minutes from Auckland and just over an hour from Hamilton. Anne and Philip Woodward have diversified their farm into a destination built around a beautiful New Zealand glowworm cave, with the cafe sitting below green hills studded with dramatic limestone rocks and bordered by a stream.
Cave tours are personal and unhurried, taking visitors through an expansive main cavern where glowworms sparkle like the night sky and pass close enough to touch as you walk the riverbed. The formations are remarkable in their own right: stalactites, stalagmites, giant pillars, fine straws and flowing shawls.
The cafe pairs its striking setting with a seasonal menu inspired by the property's expansive orchard and vegetable gardens — food that is fresh, nourishing and comforting, served at long tables made for sharing or small tables for solitude. It is fully licensed, and the coffee is roasted on-site: shade-grown, organic, fair trade beans roasted fortnightly in the fresh country air, enjoyed daily in the cafe and delivered throughout New Zealand.
The land around is protected too, with multiple sections covenanted to the QE II Trust, where extensive native planting is protected in perpetuity. A 60 minute bush and waterfall loop track starts just around the corner from the cafe, and accommodation and team-building events make it easy to turn a day trip into a proper getaway.
Less than 90 minutes from Auckland and just over an hour from Hamilton, Waikaretu feels a world away. Here, on the North Waikato west coast, Anne and Philip Woodward run a farm that has quietly grown into one of the region's most rewarding day trips: a glowworm cave, a seasonal country cafe, an on-site coffee roastery and protected native bush, all sharing the same limestone-studded valley.
Nikau Cave is the reason most people make the drive, and it earns it. Tours are deliberately personal and unhurried, moving through an expansive main cavern where glowworms sparkle, in the site's own words, like the night sky. The formations compete for attention: stalactites and stalagmites, giant pillars, fine straws and flowing shawls.
What sets Nikau apart is proximity. Because the tour walks the riverbed, the glowworms hang close enough to touch. The stories on the business's own site make it clear this is genuine, hands-on caving — one visitor describes crawling on elbows and knees up an icy stream through a narrow section barely half a metre high. Children are welcome from age seven, and every booking asks for adult and child numbers plus a morning or afternoon preference; all cavers confirm they have read the Risk Disclosure before heading in.
Back above ground, the cafe takes full advantage of its setting — bordered by a stream, below green hills dotted with dramatic limestone rocks. The menu is seasonal and grows, quite literally, out of the property: it is inspired by the farm's expansive orchard and vegetable gardens, and the food is described simply as fresh, nourishing and comforting. Long tables are set for sharing and good conversation; smaller tables for those who would rather retreat into solitude.
The coffee is a story of its own. Way out in rural New Zealand, the team reasoned, the only way to drink genuinely fresh coffee is to roast your own — so they do. The beans are shade-grown, organic and fair trade, roasted on-site in the fresh country air. Roasts happen fortnightly, the cafe pours daily, and the same beans are delivered to customers throughout the country. The cafe is fully licensed, so a post-cave drink is on the cards too.
Anne and Philip's stewardship extends well past the cafe door. Multiple sections of the land sit under QE II Trust covenants, protecting extensive native planting in perpetuity. One of those sections carries a bush walk leading to a waterfall — a 60 minute loop track just around the corner from the cafe, with informational signage and views over the bush, river and farm. It pairs naturally with a cave tour and lunch.
Hours shift with the seasons. In summer (1 October to 2 June) the doors are open Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, and 8 am to 5 pm on weekends. In winter (3 June to 30 September) the business closes on Mondays, runs Tuesday to Friday from 9 am to 4 pm, and opens weekends 8.30 am to 4.30 pm. Bookings for caving, the cafe or accommodation go through the contact form — with numbers, dates and any dietary requirements — and the team asks you to phone for anything urgent, including cancellations or running late.
Groups are well catered for. Team-building days can include anything from caving to tree planting with good food in between, and there is accommodation on-site for those who want to stretch a day trip into a getaway. Driving in, you can stick to the main roads or take the back roads from Raglan or Port Waikato.
Few places this close to Auckland manage to feel this far away. Between the glowworms, the garden-driven menu, the fortnightly roast and the waterfall loop, Nikau Cave & Cafe rewards a full day out — or better yet, an overnight stay.