Great Barrier Island sits 90 kilometres from Auckland and feels like another world. No traffic lights. No supermarkets. Clean water, serious fishing, wild coastline, unreal night skies and some of the best underwater scenery in the country. Most New Zealanders have never been. Almost no international visitors make it out there.

This mission begins the night before departure with dinner at one of Auckland's finest seafood tables. The following morning you lift off by helicopter on a scenic route across the Hauraki Gulf. From there, eight days of adventure! You'll be staying in high end accommodation with fantastic views, have access to a dedicated skipper and vessel, an Epic Mission host with you throughout, and one evening when an executive chef flies in to cook an exceptional multi-course meal with what you've caught.

An active dedicated campaign against a difficult target.

One fish sits above everything else in big game fishing: the broadbill swordfish. Elusive, powerful; hunted in the deep dark waters of the mesopelagic (or 'twilight') zone. Little light makes it down to the world these predators inhabit, hence the name.

This is one of the most demanding and rewarding pursuits in the ocean and arguably the most exclusive mission in our lineup. One (but up to two) guests. One target.

Broadbills live hundreds of metres below the surface; often found between 400 and 600 metres. They can be pursued both at night and during the day using highly specialised deep-drop gear, precision rigging, and carefully timed weather windows. It is technical, physical, and completely unlike conventional sportfishing.

We know the grounds. We know these fish. We know when to move and when not to.

The window for this mission is narrow and dictated entirely by conditions. When you get the call, you go. That is the deal. The reward for that flexibility is access to a fish and mission experience that very few people on earth will ever have the privilege of knowing.

This mission has one objective: get you your swordfish. We take care of all the thinking — you just need to be ready to go when we say it's time to go.

You may bring a mate to share the experience, the anticipation, and the fight. But this is not a group mission. The mission is singular, and the achievement is yours (or yours shared between you and your friend). If you land your fish on night one, the objective is reached and the mission is complete.

PS. If you are committed enough to the objective that you do land one, it will likely be one of the greatest things you have ever done.

The far north of New Zealand is a different world. Wild coastlines. Deserted beaches stretching beyond the horizon. Huge desert like sand dunes. Wild horses roaming the beaches. Water so clear and full of life it will - pardon the cliche - leave you speechless.

We base ourselves on the mainland and launch daily strike missions from there, but when the weather window opens north - we drop what we are doing and go to the revered and mystical Three Kings Islands.

Sitting approximately 55 kilometres off the northernmost tip of New Zealand, the Three Kings are uninhabited, largely inaccessible, and home to marine life in such abundance, you'll be hard pressed to find it anywhere else on earth! Reaching the islands requires a serious offshore passage - which is part of the point. Weather though, is what this specific excursion is completely reliant on - the Three Kings are isolated and no one is there to help you if something goes wrong; we save this for only the best weather opportunities during your stay, if any.

This mission is built around what the Far North does better than almost anywhere: kingfish in heavy current powerful enough to pull you off the reef, and giant packhorse crayfish moving through volcanic structure in crystal-clear water. Six days of spearfishing, freediving, exploration alongside some of the country's most experienced ocean guides.

The Far North is not polished or predictable. Conditions can change quickly. The ocean has real energy to it up there. But that is exactly why you want to experience it. Each day leaves you tired, salt-covered, and feeling more alive than when you arrived. You'll genuinely be one of only a handful of people who get to experience this spectacular part of the world, the way we have it planned for you.

The Wanganella Banks sit 350 nautical miles northwest of New Zealand in the North Tasman Sea - more than 200 nautical miles from the nearest land. A remote seamount system rising from depths of over 2,000 metres to within 30–90 metres of the surface, creating immense upwellings that concentrate bait, predators, and pelagic life in numbers that genuinely defy belief. During summer, catching fewer than ten striped marlin before lunchtime is considered a slow morning. Almost nobody fishes here. Even fewer have ever gotten in the water here to swim in the open ocean amongst bird workups and to see Marlin in their own environment. This is not a fishing trip. This is a true offshore expedition.

The mission begins with a two-day open ocean crossing aboard a capable mothership vessel purpose-built for serious offshore operations. From there, six to eight days are spent living and operating on the banks themselves. Diving, fishing, exploring, and experiencing one of the wildest marine environments in the Southern Hemisphere. The journey is part of the experience: real weather, real ocean, and a crew that knows exactly what they are doing.

We charter the vessel exclusively for the mission. One captain, one host, one chef, two crew, a fast tender for daily operations, and a maximum of only a handful of guests onboard. This is a high-end expeditionary adventure to one of the most remote and untouched big game fisheries left on earth.

Frederick Reef sits 300 nautical miles east of Cairns in the Coral Sea Island Territories - far beyond the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef, in waters that see almost no recreational fishing pressure. A submerged atoll inside a protected zone accessible only under special permit, Frederick Reef has been visited commercially only a handful of times in modern history. What exists out there reflects that isolation completely.

The mission begins in Cairns before pushing deep into open Coral Sea - one of the great ocean environments on earth. The reef system itself is pristine: hard coral, immense visibility, huge pelagic fish, and water so clear it feels like flying. Dogtooth tuna, wahoo, yellowfin, giant trevally, and coral trout thrive here in extraordinary numbers. Out there, you compete with the sharks for every fish you hook.

This is a private mothership expedition chartered exclusively for your group, with a fast tender onboard for daily reef operations. Days are built around fishing, diving, exploration, and experiencing a part of the ocean that very few people on earth will ever see firsthand. Three hundred nautical miles offshore, eating fish caught only hours earlier while anchored beside one of the most remote reef systems in the Coral Sea - this is exactly the kind of place Epic Mission exists to reach.

Epic Mission goes where most operators simply won't. This is one of those places.

Every winter, giant southern bluefin tuna push down the East Cape coastline. Cold water. Short weather windows. Huge fish moving fast through one of the wildest stretches of coastline in New Zealand.

When the reports start coming through, people move quickly. Boats leave in the dark. Crews drive through the night. Fuel docks suddenly come alive. Everyone is chasing the same thing.

It's like intercepting a herd of wildebeest as they traverse across the savannah!

This mission exists for one reason: To put you onto a big, beautiful, hard fighting, mouth watering southern bluefin tuna. Not yellowfin, not albacore, not skipjack, not bigeye - BLUEFIN. The real thing. You'll be the envy of any and every Japanese person you meet thereafter!

Bluefin tuna are arguably the best eating fish you can catch in the ocean. They are certainly one of the most expensive.

This mission follows the same philosophy as our Swordfish operation: an individual or a couple of people with singular objective and total focus. One or two guests only. You can bring a mate to share the experience — someone to rotate on the gear, share the adventure with, and be there to jointly witness the chaos that erupts behind the boat when these fish bite the lures.

You'll be picked up and transported to the East Cape region where the mission begins. Most guests travel with our crew by road — because the long drive through remote parts of the country is part of what you go through to earn this reward. Helicopter transfer is available for those who want to save time and arrive directly, at an additional cost on request.

From there, we wait for the right conditions with everyone — our team and you — ready to move when the opportunity presents. This is a mission that requires flexibility in ones schedule and commitment to the objective - with weather being our guiding mistress.

The East Cape fishery demands respect. Some days you get nothing and the water seems like a barren desert. Other days the weather kicks up and makes for uncomfortable conditions. But a lot of the time the waters around East Cape feel very much alive with birds working the surface, bait pushing up, and herds of dolphin and pilot whales chasing schools of fish. In and amongst all that activity and sporadic crackle from the boat radio, are the tuna we've come for.

When they bite, you'll feel it. These fish are wonderfully strong, require heavy drag, and are powerful enough to empty reels — and physically break people down during the fight. You'll need to be prepared to spend hours on the rod if conditions turn against you. The reward for enduring it is being up close and personal with one of the most respected fish in the ocean, and an unbelievable story you'll carry for the rest of your life.

When we get one, the mission enters its final chapter — the grand finale. A private dinner, a few days after you secure the bounty, where you invite your closest friends, colleagues, or whoever you want to join you in celebrating the catch in the most fitting way possible.

From the moment your fish is caught and landed on the boat to the moment it ends up on your plate, our team ensures it is immaculately cared for. Bled correctly. Chilled correctly. Stored and broken down correctly.

A highly trained chef then turns your catch into a multicourse set of masterful creations. Every part of the fish, broken down properly and presented through a private culinary evening that closes the loop full circle. You'll be walked through what part of the fish you're eating, and why it's so good. It's the most fitting way to culminate the effort — having your catch properly respected alongside your friends and family, all of you bonded by the experience.

Most people will never eat bluefin this fresh in their entire lives. Almost nobody will eat one they caught themselves.

That's what Operation: Bluefin is really about. Not just catching the fish. But turning it into a story that lives on as part of you, forever.