Volunteer for Coastguard Whakatāne

As one of New Zealand’s 63 Coastguard units across Aotearoa, Coastguard Whakatāne, maintains, and operates two dedicated rescue vessels. These amazing volunteers respond to the call for help 24 hours a day 7 days a week out beyond White Island and part of the Eastern Bay of Plenty including, the Whakatāne river entrance, Ohiwa Harbour and the Rangitaiki river entrance. Last year, Coastguard Whakatāne volunteers responded to 21,648 calls for help, and are the reason people came home safely.

Volunteer Radio Operator

Coastguard Radio Operators are at the nerve centre of our operations, the connection between our volunteers on the water and up in the sky, boaties and emergency services. Based in our Whakatāne Unit you will be part of our nationwide team which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Rescue Vessel Volunteer

Keen to get involved in a volunteer role where the view is different every day? Do you want to give your time to making a difference in saving lives at sea? If so, the team at Coastguard Whakatāne would love to hear from you!

Shore Crew Volunteer

Make things smooth sailing on land while the rescue crew are focusing on training and call outs. If you have a few hours a week to give or just a few weekends a year, your contribution to Coastguard Whakatāne will support our wet crew save lives at sea – all without getting your feet wet.

If you are interested in helping out as a volunteer crew member on our Coastguard Rescue Vessel (CRV), or as a Volunteer Radio Operator (RO) or Shore Crew (SC), please follow the instructions below.

Visit the Coastguard New Zealand Volunteers website HERE.
View current volunteer roles (shown as current vacancies).
Select ‘Whakatāne’ from the Unit dropdown and our current roles are shown.

Alternatively, contact Coastguard Whakatāne’s current President Jim Williamson on 027 284 0254 or drop in at Coastguard Whakatāne and we can walk you through it.

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