Sprasa03 Posted April 17, 2016 #1 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Has anyone done this? I only recently heard about Geocaching which is simply explained as I guess a world wide treasure hunt! People hide thing and you use the GPS on your phone to find them? I use a question mark because I've never done it before and am not sure if I'm explaining it right. I wanted to do it with my family when we get to Bermuda in August but I'm not sure exactly HOW to do it, esp. when I've heard of the internet on cell phones being pretty spotty on NCL and I've never attempted anything on my phone in Bermuda besides taking pictures. I have virgin mobile service (which I think sucks but it's cheaper than most). I don't know if that changes anything. I'll be traveling with more tech savy people who have iPhones, etc. so maybe they should do the GPS tracking instead of me. I don't even know what's the best website to use to find these little trinkets in Bermuda! Has anyone else done this activity and could they explain it better to me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ColeThornton Posted April 17, 2016 #2 Share Posted April 17, 2016 http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=geocaching+in+bermuda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Turtles06 Posted April 17, 2016 #3 Share Posted April 17, 2016 (edited) OP: the official Geocaching website is here: https://www.geocaching.com/play I've done a search on that site, and there are geocaches in Bermuda. Years ago, in the very early days of this hobby, my spouse and I did a lot of geocaching, and we had a small Garmin GPS device for this purpose. This was before cell phones got really smart, so I'm not sure how well current smartphones will work for this purpose, but you will need an accurate GPS readout to find or place a cache. If you are at all interested in geocaching, you should really read up on Geocaching.com Perhaps you might do a trial run somewhere near your home, before you tackle this in Bermuda. :) [i'm sure there are a zillion geocaches in NJ] Have fun! Edited April 17, 2016 by Turtles06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasalth Posted April 17, 2016 #4 Share Posted April 17, 2016 While I personally don't have experience out of the country, my mother tries to get to at least one geocache everywhere she goes. My mother and step-father have a little portable GPS they use also. They have found that their cell phones just aren't as good especially when coverage can be spotty since some caches you need to be super accurate for. You also have to take into account with using your phone as the main GPS/Tracking for them, you are going to need an international data plan to pull up the maps and such you would be using. If you print out a list of the locations you can avoid having to pull up maps if you have a specific GPS app or capable phone that shows accurately. I unfortunately don't know anything about Virgin Mobiles international data. You seem to be as much of the minority as I am with T-Mobile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esm54687 Posted April 19, 2016 #5 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Before you even begin looking at how geocaching will work, etc.... I would spend time checking your phone carrier's international data plans.... GPS use is very data intensive and Bermuda is super expensive. I spent a couple minutes on Virgin's website and the International plans seem to only deal with "voice" It sounds like a fun thing to do..... but it will be very expensive using your phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyCapn Posted April 19, 2016 #6 Share Posted April 19, 2016 http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=geocaching+in+bermuda You think this is helpful? Why bother posting this other than to show off how snarky you are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryincork Posted April 19, 2016 #7 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Geocaching is lots of fun. Try it in your local area to get experience first. Also you can download the caches and look at them off line and only turn on data when close by. Don't forget you can use WiFi to get down loads to. But you must check out the cost of data with your package, it can be very expensive if you don't have unlimited data. And don't download anything while on board as you will go through the ships system which is horrifically expensive. As I said have a go at home and see how much data you use. If you can read a map you don't need the compass /satellite directions until you are close to the find. If it is an easy find you might not need to turn them on at all☺ have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvsullivan Posted April 19, 2016 #8 Share Posted April 19, 2016 You think this is helpful? Why bother posting this other than to show off how snarky you are? Are you saying this poster is snarky because he/she gave the OP a list of everything there is to know about Geocaching in Bermuda in one place. This is pretty helpful information and I don't see it as snarky in any way. Perhaps a quick look in the mirror??;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprasa03 Posted April 23, 2016 Author #9 Share Posted April 23, 2016 OP: the official Geocaching website is here: https://www.geocaching.com/play I've done a search on that site, and there are geocaches in Bermuda. Thanks for the advice - I put this question out on my FB as well and it turns out someone I know is into geocahcing and I'm going to have a trial run with her soon to see what it's all about. She may even let me borrow her equipment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprasa03 Posted April 23, 2016 Author #10 Share Posted April 23, 2016 While I personally don't have experience out of the country, my mother tries to get to at least one geocache everywhere she goes. My mother and step-father have a little portable GPS they use also. They have found that their cell phones just aren't as good especially when coverage can be spotty since some caches you need to be super accurate for. You also have to take into account with using your phone as the main GPS/Tracking for them, you are going to need an international data plan to pull up the maps and such you would be using. If you print out a list of the locations you can avoid having to pull up maps if you have a specific GPS app or capable phone that shows accurately. I unfortunately don't know anything about Virgin Mobiles international data. You seem to be as much of the minority as I am with T-Mobile! yes I was really skeptical I'd be able to do anything on my phone but since I only planned to do it once I didn't want to buy the equipment either! I put this question out on my FB as well and it turns out someone I know is into geocahcing and I'm going to have a trial run with her soon to see what it's all about. She may even let me borrow her equipment! Thanks for the advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprasa03 Posted April 23, 2016 Author #11 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Before you even begin looking at how geocaching will work, etc.... I would spend time checking your phone carrier's international data plans.... GPS use is very data intensive and Bermuda is super expensive. I spent a couple minutes on Virgin's website and the International plans seem to only deal with "voice" It sounds like a fun thing to do..... but it will be very expensive using your phone I was really skeptical I'd be able to do anything on my phone, let alone afford the charges but it turns out someone I know is into geocaching and I'm going to have a trial run with her soon. She may even let me borrow her equipment! Thanks for looking into Virgin Mobile for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprasa03 Posted April 23, 2016 Author #12 Share Posted April 23, 2016 You think this is helpful? Why bother posting this other than to show off how snarky you are? Thanks for coming to my defense - I'm not even responding to him. He must really have his nose in the air if he thinks he's the only one who knows how to google. Of course I know how to research online I was just looking for some personal advice and experiences about geocaching and I appreciate everyone who responded - everyone but him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprasa03 Posted April 23, 2016 Author #13 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Geocaching is lots of fun. Try it in your local area to get experience first. Also you can download the caches and look at them off line and only turn on data when close by. Don't forget you can use WiFi to get down loads to. But you must check out the cost of data with your package, it can be very expensive if you don't have unlimited data. And don't download anything while on board as you will go through the ships system which is horrifically expensive. As I said have a go at home and see how much data you use. If you can read a map you don't need the compass /satellite directions until you are close to the find. If it is an easy find you might not need to turn them on at all☺ have fun. It turns out someone I know is into geocaching and I'm going to have a trial run with her soon near her home. She may even let me borrow her equipment! I was really skeptical I'd be able to do anything on my phone, let alone afford the charges so I think using my cell to geocache is out of the picture for now. Unless my SIL who has an Iphone can do it - but we'd probably still borrow my friend's equipment and do it that way :)Thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ColeThornton Posted April 23, 2016 #14 Share Posted April 23, 2016 (edited) Thanks for coming to my defense - I'm not even responding to him. He must really have his nose in the air if he thinks he's the only one who knows how to google. Of course I know how to research online I was just looking for some personal advice and experiences about geocaching and I appreciate everyone who responded - everyone but him! It was a bad attempt on my part at humor. I was actually trying to be helpful. I apologize for coming across as rude to you. Enjoy your cruise. Edited April 23, 2016 by ColeThornton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcipjr Posted April 23, 2016 #15 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Before you even begin looking at how geocaching will work, etc.... I would spend time checking your phone carrier's international data plans.... GPS use is very data intensive and Bermuda is super expensive. I agree about checking with your carrier, but "GPS use is very data intensive" is not quite correct. The GPS in your phone does not use any data at all—however, downloading maps does, and that is what can be data intensive. I would suggest that you download the data for your maps ahead of time (several apps let you do this) and use the maps with cellular data switched off on your phone. Also, if you're looking for a new carrier, T-Mobile includes free (though throttled) international data in 120 countries, and Bermuda is on the list of supported countries. It worked great for us the past couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haysiedaze Posted April 23, 2016 #16 Share Posted April 23, 2016 (edited) Geocaching is new to me too. I was walking around our local mall recently and there was a kiosk that was advertising geocaching cruises. After talking to them I went home and googled geocaching and found out there were actually sites right around my house. Going to go check one out with my son. Edited April 23, 2016 by Haysiedaze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprasa03 Posted April 24, 2016 Author #17 Share Posted April 24, 2016 It was a bad attempt on my part at humor. I was actually trying to be helpful. I apologize for coming across as rude to you. Enjoy your cruise. I apologize too - I guess sometimes when things are written out instead of said face to face the intention can be misinterpreted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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