Dive into Coastguard’s Big Swim - Local Matters The Big Swim kicked off at the beginning of this month, challenging Kiwis to set a personal swimming goal throughout June to raise funds for Coastguard’s volunteer crews. Last year was a huge success, with more than 2500 people collectively swimming nearly 30,000km and raising over $640k to support Coastguard’s lifesaving work. Swimmers can start at any point through the month, so there’s still time if you want to dive in, or donate to one of...

It was a Saturday afternoon shift like many others at Hibiscus Coastguard. Our crew for Hibiscus Rescue 2 (Hib2) was in the shed, working through our routine checks before heading out. But it was clear from the outset this wasn’t going to be a quiet day. A strong south-easterly was already blowing, with winds pushing 35 knots and gusting up to 45. Even from shore, you could see it was going to be rough out there, and we’d already made the call to stay close to shore. At around 2:15pm,...

This year marks a significant milestone for Coastguard New Zealand — 50 years as a nationally united organisation dedicated to saving lives on the water. While the official formation of a national Coastguard came in 1976, the story stretches back much further. Across Aotearoa, small volunteer rescue groups began forming as early as the late 1800s, built on a simple but powerful principle: neighbours helping neighbours. These early crews faced challenging conditions — limited equipment,...