Help protect our oceans through responsible tourism, conservation storytelling, and world-class training.
🌐 Train with the World Cetacean Alliance and become a globally certified marine guide — inspiring others with every tour.
Make a difference — start your journey with whales.
Learn about the lives of whales and dolphins, how to protect them, and what it means to be a responsible ocean ambassador.
This fun, beginner-friendly online course is perfect for wildlife lovers, cruise guests, students, and anyone ready to take their first step into marine conservation.
Turn your passion into your profession.
Learn to guide marine wildlife tours with confidence, skill, and heart — and start getting paid to do what you love.
This internationally recognised certification is your gateway to a rewarding career working with whales, dolphins, and ocean-loving guests from around the world.
📝 Note: While not currently listed on New Zealand’s official skill shortage list, Marine Guide Training qualifications have been successfully used to support work visa applications — with at least two visas issued to date.
This course focuses on expert guiding skills, so you can kickstart your career as a professional marine guide — helping protect what you love.
Spend five unforgettable days inside a working marine tourism business, learning each morning and guiding real guests on the water every afternoon.
Graduate confident, certified, and ready to lead tours that inspire others and safeguard the ocean.
📝 Note: While not currently listed on New Zealand’s official skill shortage list, Marine Guide Training qualifications have been successfully used to support work visa applications — with at least two visas issued to date.
Step up as a leader in marine guiding.
This advanced online course prepares experienced guides to lead tours, support junior staff, and take on greater responsibility in vessel operations and conservation storytelling.
Refine your voice, grow your confidence, and become the guide others look up to — from anywhere in the world.
📝 Note: While not currently listed on New Zealand’s official skill shortage list, Marine Guide Training qualifications have been successfully used to support work visa applications — with at least two visas issued to date.
What’s next after years on the water? This is your opportunity to lead, teach, and stay connected — without leaving the life you love.
Become a certified instructor for Levels 1–3 and step into a land-based training role, either with an existing facility or by launching your own through our franchise program.
Share your experience, shape future guides, and build a meaningful career in marine education and conservation leadership.
Lead your own training facility. Build your legacy. Protect what matters.
This elite certification is for experienced educators, entrepreneurs, and purpose-driven leaders ready to establish their own WCA-accredited marine guide training business.
Whether you’re launching a new centre in your country or partnering with MGT through a sub-franchise, this is your opportunity to grow a meaningful business that trains guides, empowers communities, and helps save the ocean.
This training is delivered by the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) in partnership with Marine Guide Training (MGT).
The WCA is a non-profit global network of responsible whale watching operators, NGOs, researchers, and individuals united by a shared mission: to protect whales, dolphins, and their habitats.
Marine Guide Training provides a globally recognised qualification pathway for marine guides, supported by the WCA’s rigorous quality assurance framework.
Through our online system and certified partners, WCA-accredited guides are trained to carry conservation knowledge and responsible tourism practices to every corner of the ocean.
20,000,000 people visit Cetacean experiences every year, 25% of those people remember what we tell them, that’s 4 million people a year who can hear the WCA message.
A world where cetaceans are only found in the wild, are respected and fully protected, and live in sustainable habitats and in harmony with people everywhere.
