Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre

Marine Education & Recreation

Sir Peter Blake Marine Education & Recreation Centre is based at Long Bay, Auckland and offers activities and programmes for school and corporate groups.

MERC can accommodate up to 73 people overnight and day groups are invited to bring the total numbers up to 150 people on any one day. School programme instruction is generally given between 9am and 4pm each day. There is scope to organise short duration, single day and multi-day courses. Programmes vary from course to course and are developed to meet the needs of each group.

Our facilities have separate teacher/leader accommodation, multi-purpose hall, wheelchair access and large kitchen & dining facilities. We also offerconference facilities for up to 30 people overlooking the Long Bay Marine Reserve, Tiritiri Matangi Island and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

Activities Include:

Activities include Adventure Games, Body Boarding, Beach and Bush Walks, Canadian Canoeing, Climbing and Abseiling, Environmental Activities, Group Challenges, Kayaking, Orienteering, Overnight Camping, Rocky Shore Studies, Rope Course Challenges, Snorkeling, Surf Survival and Sailing.

What's Happening at Sir Peter Blake MERC?

Click here to see upcoming events and activities.

Safety:

Sir Peter Blake MERC maintains an excellent safety record and provides clients with a superior product of outdoor education through quality programmes that are supported with top line equipment & facilities and caring, committed staff.

Â professional service is maintained:
Every group that participates in a Sir Peter Blake MERC programme receives an evaluation form so that Sir Peter Blake MERC can ensure the quality of the programme and service. The evaluation form includesthe opportunity to make any suggestions for changes to Sir Peter Blake MERC.

Safety systems have been checked by Outdoors NZ & have passed their stringent standards.

Sir Peter Blake MERC is now affiliated with NZOIA (New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association), our aim is to have all instructors certified to a minimum of NZOIA Level 1.

Equipment:

Sir Peter Blake MERC has a first class range of gear and equipment. It has equipment to support all activities, including water-based activities that require wetsuits and buoyancy aids.

Instructors:

Sir Peter Blake MERC employs its own full-time fully qualified staff as well as qualified contractors to cater for day students,residential groups and adult training at Long Bay, and off-site programmes. We offer outdoor education and recreation facilities with a strong emphasis on life skills & we use our environment as our text book.

For more information on what we can offer, please click here

Sir Peter Blake MERC was a finalist in the Team Building Section of the 2008 People's Choice Awards.

Sir Peter Blake MERC Disadvantaged Fund:

The Disadvantaged Fund is for those who, despite all the best efforts of their school and their community are still unable to afford to visit MERC. Read more

To request more information:-

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To learn more about OutdoorsMark mouseover

OutdoorsMark is the national outdoor safety quality assurance scheme designed specifically for organisations involved in outdoor education, recreation, and adventure programmes. The OutdoorsMark audit provides an independent process for assessing the robustness of organisational safety policies, procedures and practices for alignment with currently accepted outdoor industry standards.

ROSA The Register of Outdoor Safety Auditors (ROSA) is a collective of highly qualified outdoor safety auditors aspiring to achieve the highest quality of outdoor safety auditing standards in New Zealand. OutdoorsMark audits are conducted by trained and approved OutdoorsMark auditors, all of whom are current members of ROSA.