Geocaching with a Nuvi

[+PAWINGERS]

We want to get a GPS for our son for Christmas for his car. He already has a 60C and he and his girlfriend enjoy geocaching. We have a 2610 and love it and he has used it at times. The 2610 is a great unit but getting hard to find. I'm looking at the Nuvi's and love the smaller size. I know you can enter longitude and latitude in the Nuvi's but I really need to know if we can download multiple caches from GSAK into the Nuvi and will they show up on the screen like they do on the 2610. Does anyone know the answer to this. With the 2610 they show up on the screen as we drive along and I wonder if the Nuvi will do this. Looking forward to any input.

[gawettla]

You can download Geocaches to the Nuvi and they will show up. I logged in to the the Garmin website and went to the Geocaching section. I was able to download Geocaches directly to the unit. No 3rd party software is required.

 

My Nuvi (250W) does not really guide you to Geocaches very well. I can route to them, I think they show up as a favorite. You do not get a compass arrow like handheld units. I tried zooming in to the max, around 5m, but it was still hard to find the caches. Once you are zoomed in that far, the map screen is basically blank.

[+Chuy!]

I use a Nuvi 660 at work. A cache in your GPS is a waypoint and I don't know of any GPS unit that does not display waypoints in the map. It's the customized POIs that don't show well on the 660. You have to be zoomed in to 200 feet or below. And it too does not have an arrow. But it does have a satellite page; so, in a pinch you can use the Nuvi to find a cache by matching the coords to the cache coords. Problem for the 660 is the unit does not display the coords to the cache, unless you use customized POIs and use GSAK to include the coords in the description field.

 

I'd recommend the new Nuvi 750. It costs about a hundred less than the 660 'cause it lacks bluetooth capability. Geocaching-wise, the 750 is better in that it features tracks, a very useful feature when you go off-roading. The 760 includes tracks and bluetooth for the same price as the 660. Matter of fact, the 760 has everything the 660 has, and includes tracks, routes, and MSN Direct capability for the same price. Go figure...

[+abbeyroad]

PAwingers - MadDog is looking for a navigation GPS and I am helping them with the research.

 

Did you ever get a Nuvi for the car? Can you geocache with just the Nuvi? What model?

Wouldn't it be nice to have one device instead of 3 to carry along?

 

AbbeyRoad

 

PS Thanks again for your help with the fishing event!

[caseydenise]

I am also looking ino a navigation gps that can be used for caching. I have a Garmin legend and vista (old black and white) and really want to upgrade. I could use the navigation for work and caching. Anyone have any suggestions or experience to add. Thanks

 

I would prefer Garmin.

[carmas]

One trick I learned with the 660 is to get it close where it says you are arriving at your coordinates. Next click out and click on the corrodinates tab. This will show your exact coordinates. Take a step and repeat the process (knowing which direction is north helps). Eventually you will arrive at the exact coordinates of the cache.

[+obcjy]

I use a Nuvi 200W I have had no major issues so far with finding the Caches.

I also use GSAK, PQ and the Garmin POI Loader.

I create a PQ and then export a GPX file and upload it in to the Nuvi using the POI Loader from Garmin.

GSAK: For the Waypoint Name I use %drop2/%smart=20.

Description I use: /%hint=120

 

This gives me the information I need.

 

As I get better at this I will probaly change it around little.

 

You can get the POI Loader at http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/

[+tawlk]

I use the Nuvi 660 to get me close and for parking, then my eTrex Vista for the actual hunt. Using a self routing unit seems like cheating after years of following a line on the Vista while driving.

I update the waypoints in my Nuvi by organizing waypoints in GSAK, exporting them to Mapsource, then updating the current.gpx within the unit. Haven't had a problem yet.

[+RV Traveler]

I use a Nuvi 350. It guides me to the area where I change the navigation format to "offroad" which provides an arrow from my starting spot to the cache coordinates. It works like a charm and have had no problem using it.

 

It's also very nice to get the voice directions to the area from wherever you happen to be. The 350 has voice to speech capability speaking the names of the streets where turns are needed.

 

Also, I download cache locations directly from geocaching.com without a problem and they all show up as the little yellow boxes on the maps. I don't know what more you could ask for.

 

By the way, the North arrow is always displayed.

[+obcjy]

I also ran across this story about the Nuvi being used for Geocaching.

 

http://www.sciuridae.co.uk/hiking_gps/geoc..._garmin_200.htm

[+Cacheoholic]

I don't know what more you could ask for.

 

By the way, the North arrow is always displayed.

 

How about a compass page? Then the nuvi would work okay for Geocaching except it's not built for Geocaching duty.

[Xzg608]

Bought the Nuvi 750 about a month ago and have been using it for geocaching. Once you select off road and pedestrian mode, you get a direction arrow in the lower right corner of the screen. You can also zoom in and out as needed. I have found that this can get me to within 10 feet of the cache.

[+obcjy]

Bought the Nuvi 750 about a month ago and have been using it for geocaching. Once you select off road and pedestrian mode, you get a direction arrow in the lower right corner of the screen. You can also zoom in and out as needed. I have found that this can get me to within 10 feet of the cache.

 

I'm new to this and had my doubts if this GPS (NUVI 200W) was going to work out and so far I have found 23 Caches and your correct it gets you real close to the where the cache is. I'm hoping they come out with a case for it as it is not as rugged as some of the trail type GPS's I have seen.

 

I did try a few things like modifying some screen protectors for it and also put it in a plastic zip lock when it started raining, but so far working fine.

 

One time I got worried as I set it down right on the snow after finding a cache and not thinking right , but no damage resulted.