Hi We stayed at TeAnau But I believe there are tour buses that come from Queenstown so can do the caves and Milfod sound

No crawling though , and the bending is more like bending your knees down to go under but the boat is low to get into

Yes, it’s always dark in the cave.

I would not recommend it. There are times when it is pitch black and many people on my tour "bumped" their heads a couple times. A reasonable person might suggest that the cave conditions might frighten a child and the risk of injury is not worth it.

You may feel claustrophobic when you get in the small boat (our group was a tight fit), and it’s pitch black (disorienting).

I personally wouldn't take a one year old. You have to scramble through quite narrow passages to get to the boat which takes you through the caves.Also it is pitch dark and quite scary on the boat so not ideal for a baby. One option would be to all of you go over in the big boat to the visitor centre at the caves but then take turns to actually go on the tour of the caves. They divide you into groups as only one party can enter the caves at a time. From my recollection the actual tour is only 20 to 30 mins and the visitor centre is quite comfortable to wait a while. I'm sure the staff could accommodate that request. It's certainly worth a visit so good luck!

Probably. Check Real Journeys day trips out of Queenstown. I used their services to go to Milford Sound from Queenstown and booked with them prior to leaving the States to reserve Glow Worm tickets.

Afraid not. It is so dark inside the caves and flash would disturb the glowworms.

The trip to the caves takes about 30 mins. The views are probably similar to your cruise. However, the purpose of this trip is to enter and walk the caves and see the glow worms, in the pitch black cave, by small boat. If you don’t like the dark, don’t do the trip!