There are over one hundred meetings a week in Auckland and an amazing young people's group in the middle of town. I am heading there next week for a few days and am really looking forward to seeing some of the many friends I have made in my past visits.
In my perception of things, AA is a last resort. I don't see the program having much attraction to someone who believes they have a load of other options. There program is simple but not easy, and a completely different thing from the meetings. There are some things that the program suggests which I would have seen as avoidable if I thought I could get around it another way, and the program doesn't work as well, if at all, if bits are missed out.
The way I approached it was to try everything else first, which included having a few things tried on me against my will, and when all that failed I went to AA with the necessary willingness to succeed. I knew I was out of options.
It depends quite a lot on what type of alcoholic you are. Many here have not lost the power of choice, so they more or less chose to be sober. Good for them. I wasn't like that. I found that out by repeatedly trying (with and without support) and failing. I was medically diagnosed as hopeless, and expert medical opinion here is that the only solution for an alcoholic of my type is some kind of conversion experience, and AA are regarded as the experts in that field.
Luckily I survived my experimenting and was able to go to AA. 2 others from my rehab group also went to AA and are still sober. The other seven were all dead in a year. We were all the same type of alcoholic.
I meet folks like me in the local detox wards. Many don't get well they just get worse trying to get by on their own. The nursing staff call them "frequent flyers".
By all means try other approaches. You may find something that works. If you don't, and you survive, then AA might be a bit more attractive.