Geocaching Tours

[Joeru]

Hey everyone,

 

I have been thinking about this for a while and wondered if something like a Geo Cache Tours would work?

 

I live on the Gold Coast in Australia and this is an area full of natural beauty and a big tourist hot spot.

 

I was contemplating buying a tour bus and running Geo Caching tours throughout the Tweed Coast, Mount Warning, Gold Coast and Mount Tamborine.

 

Idea is to go to a set selection of caches and have a bunch of GPS devices and have everyone go hunting at each location?

 

Also to allow the tour to create their own cache and place a TB inside so they can all track it.

 

Do you think something like this would work?

 

Any tips or ideas or anyone doing this sort of thing already I would love to hear some feed back.

 

Cheers

 

Joeru

[+The VanDucks]

We're not people who like group tours or even being involved in any activity with a lot of people, but I do think your idea will be attractive to those who like going on tours. It might especially appeal to older cachers who have some mobility issues.

 

But you should consider the impact on the geocaches from having a large group of cachers all descend at once on the cache. If the cache is in an urban area, that sort of group activity will attract attention. If the cache is in a rural spot, there could be environmental impact such as geotrails being worn down by heavy foot traffic, etc.

 

If your plan is to have all the tours visit the same list of caches, it would be courteous to notify the cache owners, because they might have to replace the log books and replenish the swag more often.

 

You do need to be mindful of geocaching.com's policy of commercial usage; you would not be able to advertise the tour on the website, and you could not establish any new caches as part of a money-making enterprise.

 

But it is a very interesting idea, and I'd love to hear more about it if you decide to go ahead with your plan!

[+Team Cotati]

Hey everyone,

 

I have been thinking about this for a while and wondered if something like a Geo Cache Tours would work?

 

I live on the Gold Coast in Australia and this is an area full of natural beauty and a big tourist hot spot.

 

I was contemplating buying a tour bus and running Geo Caching tours throughout the Tweed Coast, Mount Warning, Gold Coast and Mount Tamborine.

 

Idea is to go to a set selection of caches and have a bunch of GPS devices and have everyone go hunting at each location?

 

Also to allow the tour to create their own cache and place a TB inside so they can all track it.

 

Do you think something like this would work?

 

Any tips or ideas or anyone doing this sort of thing already I would love to hear some feed back.

 

Cheers

 

Joeru

 

Possibly.

 

If I were going to try this though, I combine local history, sites, foods and culture with the geocaching aspects.

[+Walts Hunting]

Also to allow the tour to create their own cache and place a TB inside so they can all track it.

 

Since they are all vactioneers the cache would not be allowed under the guidelines unless you guaranteed to the reviewer that you would maintian in.

[+Snoogans]

The tour would work. However, I doubt that you would make enough to support tour bus ownership, but certainly a charter would work for your needs.

[+Team Cotati]

Also to allow the tour to create their own cache and place a TB inside so they can all track it.

 

Since they are all vactioneers the cache would not be allowed under the guidelines unless you guaranteed to the reviewer that you would maintian in.

 

WOW!! Did I ever misunderstand this.

 

I thought that it was the searchers who were vacationers, visiting the area, not the owner(s).

 

Nevermind.

[AZcachemeister]

I recently (like within the last week) noticed an ad on a cache page offering Cruise Ship Geocaching tours to Alaska and...mmm Hawaii (I think).

 

I don't think I would pay someone to plan something I could easily do for myself, but apparently there are those who are willing to pony-up!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I recently (like within the last week) noticed an ad on a cache page offering Cruise Ship Geocaching tours to Alaska and...mmm Hawaii (I think).

 

I don't think I would pay someone to plan something I could easily do for myself, but apparently there are those who are willing to pony-up!

 

There were at least a couple of Alaska geocaching cruises associated with the latest geowoodstock, but as far as I know they were just being organized by geocachers, and nobody was paying extra for the cruise for any goecaching related activities. It wasn't like they were chartering the entire cruise ship just for geocachers. I just got email from one of those that organized the one of the Alaska cruises about the Hawaii cruise.

[Joeru]

The main idea was to build new geocachers, particularly through schools and use it as a way to both promote geocaching but also to teach children about nature and how important it is to maintain.

 

Outside of schools I was thinking to promote to both corporate sector for team building exercises and to adventurist tourists, seeing as the Tweed & Gold Coast attract millions of tourists every year that there may be a market for it.

 

I dunno just a idea, thanks for the feed back so far.

 

Also the bus I was thinking of would only be for 12- 14 people depending on the model, so this would not attract great attention.

 

Regarding caches and owners I would of course ask for permission and there would be education to all people on the tour regarding proper care both for the environment and for the cache.

 

Also I think it would give a chance to bring some people to some of the towns that are dying in the community such as the town of Moobal which was once a hot spot for travellers leaving Qld to go south, but since the new highway this old route is dead and there is little left of this cute little town that is painted black and white like cows.

 

I dunno just pipe dreams for now I guess but more feedback would be great.

Edited August 2, 2010 by Joeru

[+Sol seaker]

The tours idea is good, although the new geocache part is the problem.

 

Whoever places the geocache needs to maintain it.

 

If the people traveling from places far and wide, place the cache they are unable to maintain it. You have to live in the area in order to maintain it.

 

Groundspeak asks that people do not place caches while they are on vacation because of this.

 

The idea of geocaching tours, however is sound.

 

At the Geowoodstock here in WA recently, they took buses to some noteworthy caches in the area, such as the Ape Cache and others. They were asking for volunteers to give the tours.

 

I think a lot of people would be interested in the tour because it is a lot of work looking up and preparing the cache route (especially for those of us with cheap GPSr's that don't record the cache page). To travel to another country and have it all set up would have it's advantages. Although I wouldn't find it fun to be looking for the same cache as 30 or 40 other people on a bus. In a day of full caching that way I'd think I'd be lucky to actually find one cache myself. And it could lead to nasty competition between tour mates.

 

Hmmm.... A busload might not be the way.

 

There's got to be some way to do it that would work though.

[Joeru]

The tours idea is good, although the new geocache part is the problem.

 

Whoever places the geocache needs to maintain it.

 

The new caches would be maintained by myself as a lot of people would be tourists. The creating a new cache is more novel than anything else and teach the tour how to do it and give them tips and they would feel a slight ownership to the cache as a group but ultimately the tour company would be the maintainer.

 

As for bus loads as I posted afterwards it would only be groups up to a maximum of 12 - 14 due to the bus size so finding a cache wouldn't be all that hard in a group that small.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

 

I think a lot of people would be interested in the tour because it is a lot of work looking up and preparing the cache route (especially for those of us with cheap GPSr's that don't record the cache page). To travel to another country and have it all set up would have it's advantages. Although I wouldn't find it fun to be looking for the same cache as 30 or 40 other people on a bus. In a day of full caching that way I'd think I'd be lucky to actually find one cache myself. And it could lead to nasty competition between tour mates.

 

Hmmm.... A busload might not be the way.

 

There's got to be some way to do it that would work though.

 

I thought the same thing about using a bus, or even a group of vehicles then dropping everyone off at the same place to find a single cache. If the tour could include caches that were on a loop trail there could be two drop off points to at least split up the group a little.

 

You would also need to be careful about the Groundspeak guidelines regarding sharing pocket queries, and would probably want to exclude any premium member only caches. I would expect that prior to the trip you'd want to have everyone set up a basic membership account so that everyone could log their own finds. Before investing on such a venture I'd certainly think you'd want to run it by Groundspeak beforehand. They may nix the idea, or they may even help support it through geocaching brochures or providing merchandise available through their stores. I know that they will sometimes provide some sort of special swag for larger events if you ask.

[+bflentje]

I doubt you'd be able to support yourself basing it strictly on geocaching. I think you'd have to focus on the tourism and adventure aspect and throw geocaching in to boot. Make sure you have a backup plan for retirement.

[Joeru]

Yeah I plan on doing some more research before investing into anything. Speaking to Groundspeak is on the top of my list if I decide to go ahead as I would like to use official merchandise only.

 

I agree that geocaching couldn't be the only thing, Luckily where I live you can go from Beach to River to Country to Forest to Mountains all within less than a 1hr drive. This would give me access to things like Mountain Climbing, Kayaking, Surfing, Diving, Swimming, Hiking, Horse Riding etc etc as well as some really amazing food and some vineyards and distilleries also.

 

I really appreciate all the advice you guys have given so far it has been helping me brain storm

 

Keep it coming.

[+HowsyDosy]

Being single, and having no friends or family who want to do this with me, I have been SEARCHING for a geocaching tour in a foreign land. There are group tours for so many other interests that are successful. I know people who just came back from a genealogy tour in Slovakia. I wish there were travel agency sponsored GC tours anywhere in the world.

[+dorqie]

Also to allow the tour to create their own cache and place a TB inside so they can all track it.

 

Since they are all vactioneers the cache would not be allowed under the guidelines unless you guaranteed to the reviewer that you would maintian in.

That and you'd eventually run into a problem with proximity issues.

 

edited to add:

You could place a cache for the tour, and just keep bringing the groups back to the same one to drop tbs. I'd call it something like "Tour Group X tb launch point" or something similar.

Just keep bringing them all to the same cache, instead of having them hide a new one each time.

Edited July 30, 2011 by dorqie

[+dorqie]

as for the rest of the plan, I might be into doing a caching tour while on a vacation if it was a smaller group, and if it took me on some interesting hikes that I otherwise would have had trouble finding.

[+CanDMan47]

I don't remember seeing this thread back in August, so I was surprised to see the original date. I don't have any personal feelings towards a tour, but before reading all the responses, I imagined they were all going to be along the lines of it wouldn't work/it's a bad idea. I'm happy to see so many all positive responses to someone's new idea.

[+AmphibianTrackers]

as for the rest of the plan, I might be into doing a caching tour while on a vacation if it was a smaller group, and if it took me on some interesting hikes that I otherwise would have had trouble finding.

 

Instead of actually taking them on the tour yourself, you could set up a plan for them to follow using a rental vehicle and suggest hotels and restaurants to try. You could offer a class to teach people the appropriate ways to geocache and how to use the equipment.

 

As for getting school children involved I was really disappointed by a series of caches that a teacher placed with her students. They started out as a great idea but have degraded into simply trash. Bummer.

[+Ambient_Skater]

Instead of actually taking them on the tour yourself, you could set up a plan for them to follow using a rental vehicle and suggest hotels and restaurants to try. You could offer a class to teach people the appropriate ways to geocache and how to use the equipment.

Wouldn't that be more of a travel consultancy than a tour company like the OP wanted?

[+AmphibianTrackers]

Instead of actually taking them on the tour yourself, you could set up a plan for them to follow using a rental vehicle and suggest hotels and restaurants to try. You could offer a class to teach people the appropriate ways to geocache and how to use the equipment.

Wouldn't that be more of a travel consultancy than a tour company like the OP wanted?

Yep, that is what I was suggesting.

[Cache Mission]

I have been thinking of renting a charter bus to go see the original stash, as a one time deal. Depending on how successful things went, I could charter a trip up to Vancouver, Canada. I stumbled across this thread and decided to use it to ask some questions. From previous posts it sounded like geocaching.com might have problems with advertising a charter bus on their website. Can anyone elaborate? I was thinking of making this an event, charging people for the bus, making one stop along the way to the Original Stash south of Portland and then returning home.

 

Thoughts or comments?

 

Cache Mission

Everett, WA

[+Mike & Jess]

Although slightly off topic, I had just read through this GC page before noticing this thread. Travel and GeoTourism

 

Looks like Groundspeak is already in the tourist market

[Cache Mission]

Although slightly off topic, I had just read through this GC page before noticing this thread. Travel and GeoTourism

 

Looks like Groundspeak is already in the tourist market

 

Thanks I'll look into this.

[+humboldt flier]

I have been thinking of renting a charter bus to go see the original stash, as a one time deal. Depending on how successful things went, I could charter a trip up to Vancouver, Canada. I stumbled across this thread and decided to use it to ask some questions. From previous posts it sounded like geocaching.com might have problems with advertising a charter bus on their website. Can anyone elaborate? I was thinking of making this an event, charging people for the bus, making one stop along the way to the Original Stash south of Portland and then returning home.

 

Thoughts or comments?

 

Cache Mission

Everett, WA

 

Intriguing, however, the road at GZ for the Original Stash would not accommodate parking a tour bus. Had enough difficulty with a Hyundai Sonata.

[+Mitragorz]

I like this idea a lot. A guided geocaching tour would something I'd definitely be interested in when I visit other countries, especially if I'm there for only a short time.

[+luvvinbird]

What I would find more interesting would be to hook up with geocachers in the country or region that I'm visiting. I always enjoy meeting other cachers and caching with someone from the local area would be really cool. It would be neat to have a geocaching "hotline" at one's vacation destination.

Edited September 14, 2012 by luvvinbird

[+jobrerry]

just did the Hatfield McCoy Geotrai - we opted to have a guided tour take us to all of the caches - was definitely the way to go, we got to enjoy the scenery, hear some more stories about the feud and found all the caches (some were pretty remote) with no problems. You would definitely need to have the tourism factor there - culture, history, scenery, etc. for it to be a go.

[Cache Mission]

Intriguing, however, the road at GZ for the Original Stash would not accommodate parking a tour bus. Had enough difficulty with a Hyundai Sonata.

 

I appreciate the input. I've never been there myself but want to go and figure others would be in a similar situation. How far away would the closest parking be? I've been assuming the Original Stash is off a dirt/gravel road that might not be great for a charter bus.

[+uxorious]

I have been thinking of renting a charter bus to go see the original stash, as a one time deal. Depending on how successful things went, I could charter a trip up to Vancouver, Canada. I stumbled across this thread and decided to use it to ask some questions. From previous posts it sounded like geocaching.com might have problems with advertising a charter bus on their website. Can anyone elaborate? I was thinking of making this an event, charging people for the bus, making one stop along the way to the Original Stash south of Portland and then returning home.

 

Thoughts or comments?

 

Cache Mission

Everett, WA

 

Intriguing, however, the road at GZ for the Original Stash would not accommodate parking a tour bus. Had enough difficulty with a Hyundai Sonata.

 

That must be one big Hyundai Sonata. I had absolutly no problem parking my Motorhome at GZ for the Original Stash. My Motorhome is only a 22", but I felt there was room for a much larger one. Nice paved roads all the way.

 

As for a Geocaching tour. It might be a fun thing to do on vacation. I usually don't like to cache in a large group, but on vacation I might make an exception.

[+Planet]

How fragile is the vegetation in these areas? A busload of people going in circles looking at a GPS can sure trample an area pretty quick. I'd check with the land managers.

[+The Jester]

For a beginner's tour, you might want to create some private caches to teach with - start easy and get more complex, so the newbies can learn the proper way to cache.

 

You could even put out all private caches along the route, with the option for those interested to find some "real" caches. That way you could highlight special spots that don't have caches, or even put them too close for GC.com guidelines.

Edited September 15, 2012 by The Jester