this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Geocaching

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Geocaching is a worldwide scavenger hunt that uses a GPS or phone app with GPS. There are over 3 million active caches around the world. Some are as small as a dime, others are big enough to walk into, all of them provide a unique adventure. We invite you to share your stories, photos, and experiences!

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I mostly use c:geo, which shows caches that a free Geocache account on the official app won't, except Premium-only caches, which are designated by the cache owner. (That is to say, the official Geocache app won't show free accounts caches above a certain difficulty/terrain, but you can find them online, and there's no way at all for a free account to find premium-only caches.)

I'm sure most of you already knew that though. For those of you who currently pay for premium or have paid in the past, did you think it is/was worth it? $40 USD a year doesn't seem like that much, but I'm mostly against all kinds of subscription models across the board. I've been told that a majority of caches are Premium-only, but I have no way to determine if there are a significant number of Premium-only caches around me, so I can't make any informed decisions in that regard.

So, what are your thoughts? Worth buying, or worth sticking to a free account?

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[–] fung 6 points 11 months ago

My partner pays for the Premium service. We go geocaching together all the time, I'd say it's worth it. Lame subscription model aside, it's pretty cheap entertainment and it gets us outside.

We don't subscribe in the winter so it's only a few months a year we need to pay for.

[–] Phlogiston 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Personally, I've paid for it the last few years. But Geocaching is my main hobby, so it's easily a worthwhile investment.

I get being against subscriptions out of principle though. I cached for years without paying for it. In my area only about 1/3 of caches are premium only, but that might be completely different in another part of the world

[–] Phlogiston 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Even if you don't pay have the subscription, you can look premium caches up on the website using a direct link, e.g. coord.info/GC7B6F0. You need to have the geocode ("GC7B6F0") for that, though. Not sure about logging, but I think you should even be able to do that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I can't see that cache, although I can see its name, difficulty, and the fact that it's a virtual cache. Other than that, I can't see the coordinates or description.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Interesting. Does it offer you a 'Log this geocache' button, though?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Nope, just a button asking me to buy premium.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I wish it gave a free trial period so I can know what it has to offer.