>>1308591i did some caving in new Zealand and a little back in the stats. the ones that i enjoyed the most were Waitamo and some caves around Whengrei.
In waitamo I went with a really well run professional company. There were 3 or 4 belays. One of them was down a waterfall way in the cave. the guy got a photo of me that my grandmother still has on her wall. it was great. I am also a little hefty (5'9 float around 190-210 depending on how much boxing/hiking/running I'm doing) so I did knock a stalactite with my helmet during a really narrow crawl and i could see the guide was pretty bummed with me. but other than that it was great.
then a local that i became friends with took my to caves around his hometown that he kind of knew. we were really under geared and could not get in too deep but we did 3 or four of them and they were all very different so that was cool.
i woudl say the way to get into is the same way you get into whitewater-- the first few times you go in should be with a guide. do a few commercial guided ones, then a few guided private ones, and slowly build the foundations to go with just your buddies.
