Moana Wāhine — Wāhine-Led Instructor Pathway
Moana Wāhine — Wāhine-Led Instructor Pathway
Description
Moana Wāhine is a structured pathway through SSI freediving certifications for wāhine who want to teach.
Mentorship-led, cohort-based, and designed around the reality of being a woman in the ocean industry.
An easy way in.
So many of you have asked how to help. Here's how it works — we give our time and expertise on the water, you cover your online learning, and you give back to the kaupapa when you can. We give, you give, we all grow.
Your in-water session
You cover your online learning
From first breath to instructor — with mentorship, peer support, and wāhine-led cohorts where it counts.
We need everybody — in the water and on the side.
Helping doesn't mean you have to be a diver. There's a place here for everyone.
Lend a hand
Turn sausages, greet whānau, help keep our rangatahi safe poolside, share the word, or bring your people. Whatever you can give, we'll find a place for it.
Share the kaupapa
Spread the word, bring your whānau and mates, or connect us with your school, club or community. The more hands and hearts, the further this goes.
Want to learn to freedive yourself? Put your hand up.
If you'd love to dive too — that's a heck yes from us. Tell us when you sign up and we'll sponsor your session. You'll learn, you'll connect, and you'll be ready to give back to the next crew coming through.
Yes — count me inIf this really sparks you — there's a future in it.
For some, a first breath-hold turns into something bigger. If the ocean lights you up, there's a real pathway here — and real mahi down the track.
Two ways in — pick yours.
Get in the water
Lend a hand — no cost
Kerikeri & Kawakawa
Weekly rangatahi sessions on Tuesdays — free, funded by Tū Manawa.
Kaitaia weekend workshops
Pool Freediver certification for wāhine — very limited spots.
Cohorts are built when a critical mass is ready.
The best way in is to get in touch — let us know where you are in your pathway and we'll work out the timing.
We run the first course free of our time. We ask for an $85 commitment — non-refundable — which covers your online SSI certification and online learning.
Te Wheke Moana
Moana Wāhine feeds directly into our Ocean-to-Trades schools pathway — marine education for Te Tai Tokerau rangatahi.
Explore Te Wheke Moana →A Te Tai Tokerau freediving kaupapa, led by wāhine.
Moana Wāhine grew from years of taking wāhine and rangatahi into the moana — and a simple belief: when women teach women, more of us stay in the water for good.
It's mentorship-led and community-built, grounded in 25+ years of professional ocean experience and partnership history spanning the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, EMR, the R. Tucker Thompson Trust, and the I Have a Dream Foundation.