Geocaching is a secret weapon when you want to get your kids out in the fresh air. If you’ve not heard of it, read on for all the info you need to get your kids nagging you to go for a walk…
We all know how much kids enjoy a treasure hunt, and it’s something you can do anytime thanks to Geocaching. Geocaching is a real-life treasure hunt where you use GPS on your phone to find containers called “geocaches” or “caches” that have been hidden. There are more than 3 million active geocaches worldwide, hidden in 191 different countries, on all seven continents (even Antarctica)! There are hundreds of caches in Guernsey along with on Lihou, Herm, Sark and Alderney.
Getting started
The official website for geocaching is geocaching.com, with an easy-to-use app ‘Geocaching®’ with all of the GPS coordinates for the caches logged on the website and the app. The app is free to download and it only takes a few minutes to register your details and you’re ready to start treasure hunting.
Once on the website/app you will see the map of Guernsey and green circles which indicate the location of the caches. Each cache has its own info page which gives you a description of the cache (what you are looking for e.g. small black box) and often a hint as to where it is hidden.
Types of Geocache
There are 3 types of cache sizes: Traditional, Micro and Nano. Traditional caches are waterproof boxes that contain a logbook and pen/pencil along with small tradeable objects (think party bag stuff). Once you have found the cache, kids can swap what’s in the box for any tradeables they have brought with them (the reason to keep party bag stuff!). For my girls it is the excitement of finding the box rather than what they find in the box, however, they will always find something to trade.
Micro and Nano caches are really small caches that have no room for tradeables. We struggled for about an hour trying to find a Nano cache by Pier 17 restaurant in St Peter Port, and in the end gave up, which led to a lot of moaning from the kids, so I would recommend sticking to traditional caches when you’re starting out.
There are apparently 18 different types of cache, as we are relative newbies, we’re happy searching for traditional caches only!
How to find a Geocache
Once you have selected the cache you want to find on the app, press the green ‘navigate’ button and you will see how far you are from the cache and which direction to go to find it. It counts down in metres which adds to the excitement as my girls stare at the phone intently as we get nearer to caches shouting out the distance as it counts down.
You have found a Cache, now what?
Once you find a cache, swap tradeables if there are any, and make a note in the logbook of your Geocache name and the date. We always take a pen with us as the boxes can be missing something to write with. Don’t forget to press the ‘Log’ button on the cache page of the app, here you can write if you found the cache or mark it as DNF (Did not find), this helps other users as it is shown in the ‘Activity’ section. Logging the cache will also give it a yellow smiley face (instead of a green circle) on the map, so you can easily see the caches you have found. Don’t forget to replace the box exactly where you found it.
Top tip if you can't find a Cache
We have had trouble finding some caches which turns a fun activity into one with frustrated kids which is never good. I found that by looking at the ‘Activity’ section on the cache page you can get clues as to where it is hidden and I check this beforehand to see that people have found the cache recently, so we know it is still there.
Upgrading to Premium, is it worth it?
It is possible to upgrade to become a premium member of the Geocaching® app and this gives you extra benefits. The basic free package gives you access to Traditional caches with easy difficulty and terrain ratings, however, you will not see advanced caches with higher difficulty and terrain ratings and there are some premium-only Geocaches as well. The other benefit of premium is that you can create and download lists and maps for offline use in the Geocaching® app, useful when you are in locations with no mobile signal, however, we have never used the app offline as it works well in Guernsey. We tried the app for a while before deciding to upgrade, mainly because there were some caches near our house that were premium, so we couldn’t see the details. In hindsight, there are so many basic caches it’s not necessary unless you want access to the more challenging ones.
Exploring Guernsey whilst treasure hunting
We’ve had great fun finding new places in Guernsey whilst hunting for Geocaches, some have required us to climb rocks, others search in the undergrowth and by far the most daunting was finding the ‘Lands End’ cache on the Peastacks in St Martins which was rated a 2 for difficulty however, after seeing my kids near the edge of a sheer drop on the Peastacks, I thought ‘never again!’.
If you haven’t tried it yet, I urge you to give it a go as it gives hours of enjoyment at no cost. I guarantee once you start, you’ll be hooked! We had good fun Geocaching on Lihou Island, to find out more read our Lihou blog HERE.
