What will I learn in NMIT's Level 5 Adventure Tourism courses?

Compulsory Courses

Outdoor Adventure Leadership (ATG501)
(15 Credits)

Building on the guiding foundations from the Level 4 Certificate, this course takes your leadership to the next level.

You'll develop advanced guiding and leadership skills alongside the instructional fundamentals needed to lead groups safely and effectively in the bush.

Whether you're managing logistics in the field, adapting to changing conditions, or inspiring the people in your care, this course equips you with the tools to lead with confidence and competence.

Sustainable Practices in the Outdoors | Toitū Te Whenua (ATG502)
(15 Credits)

Great guides do more than lead people through landscapes, they help protect them. This course develops your ability to interpret and communicate sustainability concepts within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand's natural environment.

Drawing on both Western environmental thinking and the principles of kaitiakitanga, you'll learn to embed sustainable practice into your daily work as a guide, and to pass that environmental ethic on to the people you take into the outdoors.

Outdoor Adventure Industry Practice (ATG503)
(15 Credits)

This is where classroom learning meets the real world. Placed with an outdoor adventure operator in the industry, you'll apply the skills and knowledge you've built throughout the programme in an authentic working environment.

Under the guidance of an experienced employer, you'll grow your professional confidence, develop workplace competencies, and begin building the industry connections that will support your career as a guide.

This course is a vital bridge between study and employment.

Elective Courses

Develop specialist skills in your preferred outdoor activities, including canyoning and rock climbing, skiing and snowboarding, sea kayaking, and rafting.

Advanced Canyoning and Rock Climbing (ATG510)
(15 Credits)

Ready to push your technical skills further? This course consolidates your existing abilities in canyoning and rock climbing while developing the advanced instructional and applied safety skills you need to guide and instruct others in these disciplines.

You'll refine your rope work, anchor systems, and movement technique, and deepen your understanding of how to manage groups safely in complex vertical and aquatic terrain.

Ideal preparation for working in New Zealand's growing canyoning and climbing tourism sector.

Guiding and Instructing Canyoning and Rock Climbing (ATG511)
(15 Credits)

This course puts you in the guide's seat with actual clients. Building on the technical foundation of ATG510, you'll consolidate and expand your instructional and guiding knowledge through real-world practical experiences, working with clients under direct and then indirect supervision.

You'll develop your teaching style, sharpen your situational awareness, and gain the confidence that comes from guiding people through technical terrain safely and memorably.

Successfully completing this course will gain your NZOIA Leader awards in Rock, Abseil and Canyon.

Advanced Skiing and Snowboarding (ATG520)

(15 Credits)

New Zealand's ski fields are a major draw for international visitors, and this course prepares you to work in them professionally.

You'll consolidate your foundational skills from Level 4 skiing or snowboarding, mastering the technical personal riding required through the NZSIA Level 1.

Instructing Skiing and Snowboarding (ATG521)

(15 Credits)

This course moves you from student to instructor, giving you hands-on experience teaching clients to ski or snowboard.

You'll develop your ability to read learners, adapt your instruction, manage group dynamics on the hill, and deliver consistently great experiences on snow.

With links to NZSIA qualification pathways, this course is a significant step towards a professional ski or snowboard instructing career in Aotearoa and beyond.

Advanced Sea Kayaking (ATG530)

(15 Credits)

With some of the world's finest sea kayaking on NMIT's doorstep, this course is the ideal environment to take your paddling to a professional level.

You'll consolidate your technical sea kayaking skills. From reading tides and weather to executing sea rescues, this course prepares you to work in one of Te Tauihu's most celebrated and in-demand guiding environments.

Guiding and Instructing Sea Kayaking (ATG531)

(15 Credits)

This course bridges advanced technical ability and professional guiding practice. Working with real clients in the waters of the Abel Tasman, you'll deepen your instructional and guiding knowledge through supervised practical experiences, progressively taking on greater independence as your skills develop.

You'll build the communication, judgment, and client management capabilities that set great sea kayak guides apart, and gain the NZOIA Sea Kayak Leader award.

Advanced Rafting (ATG540)

(15 Credits)

Whitewater rafting is one of New Zealand's iconic adventure tourism experiences, and this course prepares you to achieve the White Water Rescue skills required to work on rivers in New Zealand.

Training on the rivers in the Murchison area, we work towards a wilderness expedition to culminate your skills.

The course deepens your swimmer rescues, rope and mechanical advantage systems, boat retrieval, river reading, and group management skills, and connects directly to NZRivers rafting qualification pathways.

Guiding Rafting (ATG541)

(15 Credits)

This is where your rafting expertise is put to work with real clients on real rivers. Through supervised practical experiences, you'll consolidate and enhance your instructional and guiding knowledge, building the situational confidence and client management skills that come only from time on the water with guests.

Progressively moving from direct to indirect supervision, this course is the final step in becoming a job-ready commercial rafting guide, ready to work with leading operators across Aotearoa.

Grade 2 or Grade 3 guide qualifications are attainable through the NZRA for successful completion of this course.