Geocaching in Bermuda from a cruise

[+benalexe]

Next month my family and I are taking a cruise to bermuda.

 

A few question. I have the etrex HC. Do i need to load in maps or anything so it know I am in bermuda?

 

Is there any way I can identify caches that are near where the boat docks. Or caches that are safe in the area and easy to get to.

[+lrosell]

Next month my family and I are taking a cruise to bermuda.

 

A few question. I have the etrex HC. Do i need to load in maps or anything so it know I am in bermuda?

 

Is there any way I can identify caches that are near where the boat docks. Or caches that are safe in the area and easy to get to.

 

You don't have to load maps into the GPSr for it to know where you are, it'll figure that out anyways.

 

The best way to figure out what caches are the closest to you would be to create a Pocket Query for each location and load them to the GPSr, either as GPX file or using POI loader.

[+lrosell]

Next month my family and I are taking a cruise to bermuda.

 

A few question. I have the etrex HC. Do i need to load in maps or anything so it know I am in bermuda?

 

Is there any way I can identify caches that are near where the boat docks. Or caches that are safe in the area and easy to get to.

 

You don't have to load maps into the GPSr for it to know where you are, it'll figure that out anyways.

 

The best way to figure out what caches are the closest to you would be to create a Pocket Query for each location and load them to the GPSr, either as GPX file or using POI loader.

[+wiseye]

It's a GPS, it knows where you are, that is what it does.

Have a good trip!

[+clan_Barron]

I've cached in Germany, Scotland and Ireland with no maps on my GPS. It's a s easy as just following the arrow until you reach the a point on the display. A little preplanning and scouting via Google maps or earth will help you get the "lay of the land" and maybe some street names that might come in handy. Turn on "bread crumb trails", mark the way point of were you start from and you'll be fine.

[+benalexe]

 

You don't have to load maps into the GPSr for it to know where you are, it'll figure that out anyways.

 

The best way to figure out what caches are the closest to you would be to create a Pocket Query for each location and load them to the GPSr, either as GPX file or using POI loader.

 

Can you explain this in more detail? What is a pcoket Query. What is GPX or POI Loader?

[+out12]

 

You don't have to load maps into the GPSr for it to know where you are, it'll figure that out anyways.

 

The best way to figure out what caches are the closest to you would be to create a Pocket Query for each location and load them to the GPSr, either as GPX file or using POI loader.

 

Can you explain this in more detail? What is a pcoket Query. What is GPX or POI Loader?

You are a premium member so on the geocaching website go to "My Account" and then on the right side of the page go to "Build Pocket Queries". Then create a new query and you can go down to "Countries" and select Bermuda. This will give you a GPX file sent to your email address with a list of all the caches in Bermuda. You can then use Garmin Mapsource or some other mapping software to view these. I just got back from Bermuda last week and did a few caches there. If you don't want to rent a scooter get a bus pass and you can travel all over the island. We got a 3 day pass for $28. I had a DNF on This One but it ws a great spot to check out.

[+Harriet the Spy]

I found 19 caches in Bermuda

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?country_id=27

Your best bet to find "safe" caches is to read the logs. The Virtuals look like they are in touristy areas. But I would load all 19 into my gps. You never know where you are going to be and if you get home and find out that a cache was in a park that you had lunch at randomly you are going to kick yourself

[+Fish Below The Ice]

Depending on where your ship docks (Dockyards, Hamilton, St George) you will have a few cache choices that you can walk to. Otherwise, for most of the caches on Bermuda you will have to get hold of some means of transportation. My advice is to rent a scooter for a couple of days (~$40/day). This will get you to where the caches are and potentially to visit some areas that aren't part of the guided tours.

 

Be sure to print out the cache pages for the virtuals you're planning on visiting so you know what information you need to collect. And be aware that cache maintenance on Bermuda is sometimes a bit slack -- so read previous logs to see what caches are missing or in rough shape.

 

Bring lots of sunscreen and water. Bermuda is hot hot hot and humid this time of year.

 

dave

[+J-Way]

Is this a cruise to Bermuda, or a cruise with a stop in Bermuda? Big difference in caching time depending on your answer.

 

But with on only 19 caches on the entire island, I agree that you should just enter all of them in your receiver just in case.

 

Also, I agree with others that your GPS receiver will automatically know where you are, but I don't know if your unit already has rudimentary maps of other countries. If not, you'll just have a blank screen except for the "arrow" and cache icons (no roads or landmarks). A good paper map will be worth its weight in gold.

[+Blaidd-Drwg]

Within 129 miles of Cococay, there are a total of 50 traditional, virtual and some special caches total in the Bahamas. Cococay is north of Grand Bahama. As for determining which caches are close to your ports, if you're staying in the Bahamas only, load them all. If going on a cruise that stops on other islands, I recently did the Bahamas, VI, and St Maarten. I was able to do three separate queries for each island and still have less than 500 caches total. By loading all the caches for the islands, I was able to take guided land tours on buses and when they stopped, locate any nearby caches. Granted, it wasn't a lot of caches, but there were a few.

[+Cache Gator]

INteresting.

We are headed to Bermuda on a cruise September 11th. We are going to be at the Dockyard for 3 days. My wife does not ride a scooter so we will have to use the Bus/Ferry to get around. I did a pocket wuerry and will load all 50 caches in my gps to take along with us on the road.

 

Cache Gator

[Mr.Yuck]

Is this a cruise to Bermuda, or a cruise with a stop in Bermuda? Big difference in caching time depending on your answer.

 

But with on only 19 caches on the entire island, I agree that you should just enter all of them in your receiver just in case.

 

Also, I agree with others that your GPS receiver will automatically know where you are, but I don't know if your unit already has rudimentary maps of other countries. If not, you'll just have a blank screen except for the "arrow" and cache icons (no roads or landmarks). A good paper map will be worth its weight in gold.

 

Yeah, there's more like 50 in the whole country. I think the other poster was just saying they personally found 19. I just don't know how some guy from Oklahoma got away with dropping 10 micros (20% of the caches in the Country) in the past few months. Oh well, some day I will take a cruise there, it's one I've always wanted to do. I'm also quite surprised they have cruises during hurricane season in September.

 

Oh, as other's have said, the GPS will know where you are. I'm a lo-fi cacher, and still roll with a non-mapping GPS. It does have dots for cities though.

[+J-Way]

Is this a cruise to Bermuda, or a cruise with a stop in Bermuda? Big difference in caching time depending on your answer.

But with on only 19 caches on the entire island, I agree that you should just enter all of them in your receiver just in case.

Also, I agree with others that your GPS receiver will automatically know where you are, but I don't know if your unit already has rudimentary maps of other countries. If not, you'll just have a blank screen except for the "arrow" and cache icons (no roads or landmarks). A good paper map will be worth its weight in gold.

Yeah, there's more like 50 in the whole country. I think the other poster was just saying they personally found 19. I just don't know how some guy from Oklahoma got away with dropping 10 micros (20% of the caches in the Country) in the past few months. Oh well, some day I will take a cruise there, it's one I've always wanted to do. I'm also quite surprised they have cruises during hurricane season in September.

Oh, as other's have said, the GPS will know where you are. I'm a lo-fi cacher, and still roll with a non-mapping GPS. It does have dots for cities though.

I'm pretty sure that a year ago (when this thread was started) there were only 19 caches total in Bermuda. But you'd have to check the Hide date of all the caches to make sure.

[+Colonial Cats]

Do not rent the scooter! They drive on the wrong side of the road and they drive like nuts! Any Cruise Line will advise you not to rent scooters in Bermuda.

[+ecanderson]

Next month my family and I are taking a cruise to bermuda.

 

A few question. I have the etrex HC. Do i need to load in maps or anything so it know I am in bermuda?

 

Is there any way I can identify caches that are near where the boat docks. Or caches that are safe in the area and easy to get to.

I try to hit a cache at each port of call on a cruise. Especially on the trans-Atlantic cruises, that makes for some unusual logs (e.g., the Azores or Canary Islands)!

 

Everyone has already noted that you don't really need a base map in your GPS to do your caching. Do your homework up front using the maps supplied by google or msn as they are provided at geocaching.com.

 

You mention looking for caches where the ship docks -- that isn't always easy. Your first problem will be understanding where your ship will dock in the first place. That's not too difficult on small islands and small ports, but in a large port area, you will need to do some real research to be sure you know where you'll land. Some port areas are HUGE and you need to distinguish between a couple of miles of potential docking areas. It's not always very easy. Asking regular cruisers on a forum like cruiselinefans.com or cruisecritics.com may get you some detailed information. Also, you'd be surprised at what you'll find with a detailed search of some of the web pages of the ports themselves. You can also sometimes get a clue as to where your pier will be by a close look at google earth. The big cruise ships are pretty obvious.

 

If you don't find anything around the docks, don't forget that shore excursions often take you to popular sites where a geocacher might also have dropped a cache. As an example, I'll be at several ports in early November off a cruise ship. Didn't see any caches right near the docks in some cases, but after researching (with gc.com and maps of the areas described by the shorex information) what was around some of the points listed in shore excursions, I found several caches right where I was headed. A shorex in Marseilles will take you to Longchamp Palace, site of GC1DXT5. In fact, I found far fewer caches near the docks on this next cruise than at shorex sites. Here's what I selected for some of my ports of call based upon proximity to docks and my excursions (no doubt this software will make a dog's breakfast of my carefully formatted text ... sorry:

 

Marseilles, France

 

 

Shorex: MR07: Avignon & Wine Tasting at Palace of the Popes

 

GC113AJ M/2.5/1.5 "Pontificus DGSTRUCH LXVII"

 

Less than 300' SE of Palais des Papes

 

GC1139Z M/2.0/1.5 "Saint-Bénézet"

 

On the bridge at St. Benezet

 

 

Barcelona, Spain

 

 

Docks: GC1AQ9F ?/3.0/1.0 Das Boot

 

 

Shorex: W/Patrick

 

GC5A26 V/1.0/1.0 Barcelona

 

Possibly at the church in Tibidabo

 

GC1T5NX M/1.0/1.0 Carril bici Sant Cugat Pl de la vila

 

½ mile WNW from Monastery

 

 

Mallorca, Spain

 

 

Docks: GC17E49 M/1.5/1.5 Parc de la Mar

 

Across the street from park – quick find

 

GC1D9PK M/1.5/1.5 Es Baluart

 

At the Museum

 

 

Shorex: PJ10: Panoramic Palma Walking Tour

 

GC17E49 (see above)

 

350' SSE of cathedral

 

 

Cartegena, Spain

 

 

Shorex: RA08: Elche & Palm Tree Park

 

GC1M9A0 S/1.0/1.0 PyJ: Palmeral de Elche

 

Under big hwy bridge in center of park

 

 

Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

 

 

Shorex: LZ18: Camel Ride & Fire Mountain

 

GC1BBMT "E"/1.5/1.5 El Diablo / Lanzarote

 

Earth cache at visitor center parking lot?

 

Note: requires photo holding GPSr and coordinates!

 

 

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

 

 

Shorex: TF39: Pyramids of Guimar

 

GC10X34 R/1.5/1.5 EL MISTERIO DE LAS PIRAMIDES

 

About 700' WNW of the parking lot

Edited August 24, 2009 by ecanderson

[+twinjayhawks]

Well... I am sure we I can't help the original person who asked the question but maybe some others that are wondering the same thing.

 

First, as stated above your GPS will give you a map but depending on which one you have it probably is not very accurate. You can find many maps of Bermuda that can be downloaded to Map Source and then uploaded to the GPS which I have found to be very accurate. If you have have not been to Bermuda before you will not understand just how many roads and trails there are for such a small island. If you don't have a good map that shows them all you will spend a lot of time lost and wondering which road to take. A lot of the GC's are on old Railway Trails and probably will not show up on a standard map with your GPS. Do what you want, but I would suggest downloading additional maps before you go. For most people your time on the Island is limited so your time needs to be maximized.

 

Second, I am the "Guy from Oklahoma" who placed the 10 cached around the Island. We have a family home there and someone is always there to check the caches for me when I can't. I appreciate your concern and the ability to maintain the caches properly is important to me.

[TogetherWeFind]

TwinjayHawks has some great caches on the island.... and now Bermuda has over 115 caches on the island and 3 of them are diving caches.... a cruise is a great way to go to Bermuda caching... if you want more information on cruises to Bermuda contact me... I am working to get a Bermuda caching cruise for April of 2012

 

Just email me.