Who we are

Coastguard is the charity saving lives at sea. We’re on a mission to help Kiwis get the best out of their time on the water, safely and with confidence. Last year Coastguard’s 1,963 volunteers gave their time to help bring nearly 8,000 Kiwis back home safely to dry land – from Cape Rēinga to Bluff and across the coastlines, major rivers and lakes of Aotearoa.

We save lives by teaching Kiwis to make the most of our waters through our education programmes and community initiatives, by providing critical marine communications infrastructures and safety and information services.

None of this would be possible without the financial support we receive from our funders, partners, members and donors who generously give to Coastguard so that our volunteers can continue to be there when Kiwis need them most. 

Volunteering for Coastguard: A way of life

Since the first Coastguard Unit was formed in 1898, Coastguard has been run by volunteers, and that remains the case today. We are hugely proud of our volunteers – an amazing group of people from all communities and walks of life who dedicate a huge amount of their time to keeping kiwis safe on the water.

Coastguard volunteers spend many hundreds of thousands of hours on search and rescue missions, radio operations, training or maintenance work each year. They’re highly trained professional volunteers, so you can be safe in the knowledge that when you call Coastguard for help, you’ll be in expert hands. Find out more about our volunteers.

Our search and rescue volunteers are based at 63 Coastguard ‘units’: 

• 59 wet units crewing rescue vessels and providing services to local boaties, positioned in strategic locations around the coast and on major lakes and rivers, from Houhora in the north to Bluff in the south
• Two air patrol units in Auckland and Northland who piloting search and rescue aircraft
• Two dedicated communications units in Auckland and Tauranga