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Geocaching in the Caribbean

Cachecruiser
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Cachecruiser

Cachecruiser

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Hello,

 

we're geocachers, going for the treasure hunt wherever we're traveling, of course during our cruises in the past.

Now it will be our first time in the Caribbean on the FOS. While I began looking for geocaches in the ports of call, I was thinking about other geocachers in the cruise critic forums. I'm sure there are a lot of geocachers here.

Any recommendation for geocaches in the Caribbean would be nice. I'm very interested in your stories. :)

Thank you in advance.

 

Happy Hunting! :D

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Missus Makkem

Missus Makkem

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We have met very few Geocachers on cruises,the odd one or two, some we already knew and have met a couple by posting on the Bulletin board.

Which islands are you interested in?

St Kitts has a great one at the Vetenary School.

San Juan has loads.

We have had our best finds in the Med, the islands tend to be a bit ordinary but we are glad of any we find and certainly they add to our countries score and mileage for our TBs

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Crzy4my2

Crzy4my2

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Oh I didn't even think of this.. My son's 6th grade social studies teacher has the kids doing this as extra credit.. They started in September. My husband has really gotten into it too and is determined that he and my son will find more then the teacher..lol. I will have to remind him to check when we get to the ports

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TheGaDawgFan

TheGaDawgFan

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We love geocaching but haven't been on a cruise in a long time. But we'll be cruising Sunday!

 

Are you looking on the website and writing down coordinates and hints? We usually do it on the fly with the app, but the roaming data would be costly. We do have a good GPS.

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Missus Makkem

Missus Makkem

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We both have Garmins but before we go we check out the ports and what is nearby then print off a map with all the caches on them

 

You can then label them as you want, my DH has a better Garmin than mine and has maps on his but Ilike to use the paper map, if the CO is good with their co ords then you can see quickly which side of path/river you need to be on, a great help somewhere like Venice with all those canals.

 

If nothing else it has bumped our talley of countries cached in.

 

We have just sunmitted caches of our own to go out for Mothers day which is Sunday here in UK so should be fun, sure our Sharks will soon have them to hand.

Keeps us fit all that walking so have planned our caching route for next cruise too.

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Cachecruiser

Cachecruiser

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We're interested in the islands of Western and Eastern Caribbean itinerary. And Florida of course. Second time in the US, but first time as geocachers. :)

 

We have a Oregon 300, which is none of the newest gps from Garmin, but we're happy with it. Before traveling we make pocket queries from the area we are going to and upload them to the gps. So it is very easy to look if there is a container nearby.

 

Because there are not so many geocaches in every single port we're thinking about planning short events for the ports. This guarantees to find a geocache in every country we are cruising. It's all about numbers. :D

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Missus Makkem

Missus Makkem

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I have a basic etrex 10 and I can sometimes outdo my husband with his fancier Garmin.

Cannot wait to get to some warmth and really enjoy some caching, 2 weeks today and we will be in Miami.

Did a little yesterday but today it is cold and sleeting so just checking on our ports.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Captain Dave

Captain Dave

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Hello,

 

we're geocachers, going for the treasure hunt wherever we're traveling, of course during our cruises in the past.

Now it will be our first time in the Caribbean on the FOS.

 

Cachecruiser, DW and I will be on FOS in eary June. I was wondering when you are sailing. I was thinking it would be fun to set up an event cache on one of the piers.

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Missus Makkem

Missus Makkem

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I thought all of us GCers were odd.

 

No wrong there it is the rest of the population that are odd :cool:

 

All packed now for our trip across the pond to Miami and 3 weeks on the Adventure, garmins packed in hand luggage just incase , hope to get one or two in Miami well def a virtual there and hope for more, that will add the miles to a tb we have that is in a race.

We have been to most of the stops before but there are one or two more caches been laid since last year so remain hopeful to find them

Also going to Nassau so that will add to our Country totals.

 

All of that and some sunshine too,never mind the fab cruise I am sure it will be.

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Captain Dave

Captain Dave

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Are you both using your caching names in your postings?

 

MM, my caching handle is Fhazzel. And you?

 

This will be the first time I've cached off of a cruise ship. We've been on a couple of cruises before, but were not into the "odd" hobby back then.

 

Here's wishing you smooth sailing and happy caching.

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Addict

Addict

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We actually try to plan our cruises around caching now, and usually check out the ports to see what caches are there. In fact it was a cruiser that introduced us to caching a couple of years ago, now we cache all the time. We are also on the same cruise as Missus Makkem on 20 April and hopefully we can pick up a few along the way. San Juan is good for caching, and you can normally pick up at least one in each port. When we first started, we didn't have a GPS but still managed to find a couple of caches in San Juan using just a map and a hint. Europe is something else entirely and we were on Indy in September and had a great time in Norway, excellent caching. Our caching name is SAS&A1. :)

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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Seacruise

Seacruise

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Okay this is interesting.

 

It was I that introduced Addict to caching.

 

I have cruised the Caribbean extensively while cruising. Now there are islands that have very few caches like St. Kitts, mind you there is a great cache near the port here that is a must do. Look for the cache at the Veterinary College. If you are lucky you will also get a tour of the college.

 

Barbados is great to cache and I have driven all around the island thanks to a friend of mine who lives there.

 

Antigua has two great Forts that have caches in them. One is a Virtual.

 

San Juan is by far the best Port and has many great caches.

 

St Thomas has a few but head over to St Johns via Red Hook for some better caches.

 

St. Martin now offers caches in two countries and recently a few caches have been added.

 

Of course doing PQ's before you leave can be a problem if caches go missing since you did them and cache. I usually run GSAK while on board.

 

Now for maps. if you are using a Garmin GPS you can download OSM http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ for your trip. I have used them for a couple of years and found them great.

 

If you have problems installing them let me know. I have a blog I can direct you to.

 

Phil

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Addict

Addict

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Okay this is interesting.

 

 

 

It was I that introduced Addict to caching.

 

 

 

I have cruised the Caribbean extensively while cruising. Now there are islands that have very few caches like St. Kitts, mind you there is a great cache near the port here that is a must do. Look for the cache at the Veterinary College. If you are lucky you will also get a tour of the college.

 

 

 

Barbados is great to cache and I have driven all around the island thanks to a friend of mine who lives there.

 

 

 

Antigua has two great Forts that have caches in them. One is a Virtual.

 

 

 

San Juan is by far the best Port and has many great caches.

 

 

 

St Thomas has a few but head over to St Johns via Red Hook for some better caches.

 

 

 

St. Martin now offers caches in two countries and recently a few caches have been added.

 

 

 

Of course doing PQ's before you leave can be a problem if caches go missing since you did them and cache. I usually run GSAK while on board.

 

 

 

Now for maps. if you are using a Garmin GPS you can download OSM http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ for your trip. I have used them for a couple of years and found them great.

 

 

 

If you have problems installing them let me know. I have a blog I can direct you to.

 

 

 

Phil

 

 

And a very good teacher you were Phil. :)

 

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread, it's a great hobby that combines with cruising fantastically. We never book tours any more, as we get to see interesting places that we would never normally see, just by walking and following the arrow. :)

 

 

 

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Eiansmomma

Eiansmomma

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We cruised last November. We stopped in Nassau and Freeport. I had everything loaded on our gps and can you believe we totally forgot to take our gps off the ship with us?!?! Ugh! We are headed to Bermuda in August and will be docked for 3 days. Plenty of time for me to get my head in straight and remember the GPS :)

 

 

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Quietcat72

Quietcat72

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My sister and I are also avid geocachers (from Aus) and we make a point of trying to find a cache in each port. Like others we sometimes walk or hire bikes to see the city rather than paying for a shore tour. Great way to see the special places that no-one else (except cachers) would take you to! Also builds up smilies and the number if countries cached in!

 

 

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