Mexico Caching

[+EL K3VINO]

Soon I will be traveling into Mexico. I am hoping to find out some info about using my iPhone to search for caches but am worried about getting charged for roaming data in a foreign country. Is there a way to search for my saved caches list without roaming data?

TFTH

 

[+colleda]

I vaguely recall someone, some where on this borad,  saying they purchased a local SIM card very cheaply in Mexico. Possibly a Movistar SIM. Sorry my memory is a bit hazy as it was a couple of years ago.

We were planning a two week  Mexico vacation with a two week Panama cruise. We ended up loading every cache in Mexico into our Garmins. At the time that was about 2500. You could possibly do likewise and cache offline. Others with iPhone experience will chime in with suggestions.

[+noncentric]

Are you using the official Geocaching app?

If so, then you can download a Bookmark List or generated Pocket Query, both of which will appear under the "Lists" menu item in the app.  See HERE.  You'd want to do this before leaving home, while you have wifi/cellular data service.

You can then put your phone into Airplane Mode, open the app, select "Lists" in the menu, and select the list that you downloaded earlier.

NOTE:  If your iOS version is 8.2 or earlier, then Airplane Mode will turn off GPS, so the above won't work.

[+EL K3VINO]

Thank you both for the advice. I will be using my iPhone and leaving it in airplane mode was what I was hoping I could do. I’ll be bagging my first international cache! 

[+NYPaddleCacher]

23 hours ago, EL K3VINO said:

Thank you both for the advice. I will be using my iPhone and leaving it in airplane mode was what I was hoping I could do. I’ll be bagging my first international cache! 

Good luck. I'd suggest picking out 2-3 caches that look like "sure finds".  Read the recent logs to make sure that it's still there.  I still remember my first international find (from 2007).  It was a cache near a hotel that I stayed at during an overnight layover in Amsterdam.  I just got international finds in my 26th and 27th countries  (Sweden and Finland) about a month ago.

[+noncentric]

That reminds me. When you look at cache details using offline lists (the ones you downloaded ahead of time), then you won't get photos or more than 5 recent logs.  This can be problematic if there's an essential photo in the cache description, like a spoiler photo, or if a recent log had a helpful photo attached. The downloaded caches will show only the 5 most recent logs.

If there are specific caches you want to find, then review the caches before leaving home. If there are images or log entries that you think you'll need while abroad, then you could take screenshots so they'll be accessible while offlone. I've learned this lesson the hard way.

[+TriciaG]

Doesn't a cacher have to download maps as well? I don't use the official app, so I don't know how.

[+The A-Team]

39 minutes ago, TriciaG said:

Doesn't a cacher have to download maps as well? I don't use the official app, so I don't know how.

If you save a list or PQ for offline use in the official app, it will automatically save maps for the area surrounding each cache (actually a pretty wide radius around them). Unfortunately, the only option is the geocaching.com "Trails" map, which hasn't been updated since the spring of 2016 and seems to be another not-quite-completed-and-now-abandoned feature.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

16 hours ago, noncentric said:

That reminds me. When you look at cache details using offline lists (the ones you downloaded ahead of time), then you won't get photos or more than 5 recent logs.  This can be problematic if there's an essential photo in the cache description, like a spoiler photo, or if a recent log had a helpful photo attached. The downloaded caches will show only the 5 most recent logs.

If there are specific caches you want to find, then review the caches before leaving home. If there are images or log entries that you think you'll need while abroad, then you could take screenshots so they'll be accessible while offlone. I've learned this lesson the hard way.

So have I.  It was on a cache in Cuba, where I could not bring a GPS either.  The cache was somewhere along a long stone wall and there was a hint and photo in the listing that would have really helped.  The photo was taken from GZ and gave a perspective which showed where along the wall I should have searched. 

[+tomfuller & Quill]

My 2 Mexico caches were in Los Algodones. I walked across the border. One of the caches was 5 feet from the border.

[+fbingha]

On 11/7/2017 at 10:43 AM, noncentric said:

That reminds me. When you look at cache details using offline lists (the ones you downloaded ahead of time), then you won't get photos or more than 5 recent logs.  This can be problematic if there's an essential photo in the cache description, like a spoiler photo, or if a recent log had a helpful photo attached. The downloaded caches will show only the 5 most recent logs.

If there are specific caches you want to find, then review the caches before leaving home. If there are images or log entries that you think you'll need while abroad, then you could take screenshots so they'll be accessible while offlone. I've learned this lesson the hard way.

Use Cachly in offline mode and you can get the photos and more than 5 logs.

[+FunnyNose]

Local SIM cards are so cheap in most places. It is the first thing I do when I arrive in a new country. Right after I get my luggage. Local SIM cards are also beneficial in using UBER.

[+noncentric]

4 hours ago, fbingha said:

Use Cachly in offline mode and you can get the photos and more than 5 logs.

Yes, the OP could do that, since they have an iPhone.  Of course, they'd then have to pay $5 for the app, which they may or may not want to do.

[+coman123]

I went to Mazatlan Mexico this year, my Iphone is unlocked and I ordered a TELCEL simcard Preloaded with time and data   it was under 30 USD

Soon as I got off the plane I popped in the TELCEL card and all was good.

I bought it off Amazon

Pretty good coverage in the Mazatlan and surrounding areas to.

Edited November 9, 2017 by coman123

[+colleda]

A little off topic but my experience when caching in Mexico and Central America was that many, many caches were vacation caches with no maintenance plan. A lot, dare I say the majotrity, were throwdowns. On one cache I think I counted about 7 or 8 throwdown replacements. Caches go missing frequently and intending visitors scan caches for DNFs then take containers, of dubious quality, with them. The best caches we found were those that were being watched over by local business people who kind of 'adopted' them. These seem to have good longevity but occasionally have come to notice of Groundspeak and been archived. One we found was in a library but because in the library you could buy a coffee to have while reading. I guess it was deemed commercial.