Scuba Geocaching

[Deep-6]

Thats an interesting perspective Doc. Whats even more interesting is that this thread started six years ago and only has had 41 posts. I may be mistaken but in light of that and the fact I've never heard of "geocaching." I'm assuming its not that popular an activity with divers given our widespread ideals concerning the underwater enviornment.

 

[Guba]

Let's put this in its proper perspective. I am not an active geocacher, but I know many who are and I have visited several of the caches and the national (and international) websites that log the data associated with them.

Geocaches are not items simply "dumped" in an area to attract attention. Rather, they are small, nondescript little "troves" of minute items (sometimes only a notebook to log the "finders") that can be taken or exchanged by the persons who find them. If you were to put a proper geocache on my front lawn, ideally I would not even notice it. Persons looking for the cache would need to follow a set of clues beyond the listed coordinates in order to locate the cache. Obviously, no one is advocating what you evidently envision this activity to be...the widespread scattering of debris and junk over wide areas of pristine environment. And, of course, no one is advocating the breaking of any laws (trespassing, un-authorized placement of materials in a National Marine Sanctuary or other government land, littering laws, or other rules). After all, dropping a 200 foot derelict ship on the bottom of the sea is, in essence, mega-geocaching, but that requires a LOT of permission-granting and regulations. The only real difference is that the shipwreck is in plain sight and much easier to find!

 

[PhilC]

Yeah, trying to convice a geo-terrorist (geocacher) that "geocaching" is litter is like trying to convince a smoker that cigarette smoke is bad for everyone else around them.

So it all depends on the perpetrator's perspective? Following that logic, if I dump a bunch of garbage in your front yard and call it "geocaching," that's okay?

Wow, just wow. Talk about not having a clue. My wife and I have been moderately active geo-cachers for a couple of years now. Every time we head out to cache we take a trash bag with us and bring it back full. It's part of cacheing and something that a LOT of cachers do. "Cache in-trash out" If you had any clue whatsoever what the activity was about and what type of people actually participate in it you wouldn't sound like such a whack-job.

 

[Doc Harry]

Wow, just wow. Talk about not having a clue. My wife and I have been moderately active geo-cachers for a couple of years now. Every time we head out to cache we take a trash bag with us and bring it back full. It's part of cacheing and something that a LOT of cachers do. "Cache in-trash out" If you had any clue whatsoever what the activity was about and what type of people actually participate in it you wouldn't sound like such a whack-job.

Okay. I've been orienteering and hiking in the backcountry for 40 years. Even before it was called orienteering or "geo-littering."

If I dump one bag of garbage in your front yard and pack out two bags, that's okay?

Parts is parts.

Litter is litter.

"Troves" are litter.

Bury your little treasures in your own yard, not on public property. And definitely leave the ocean out of your evil plans.

 

[Guba]

If you've been plodding the backwoods for 40 years on a regular basis (and I suspect at least part of that is along the Appalachian Trail) then it's a near certainty that you've passed right by or over at least a few geocaches.

And you never even knew it.

And yes, I do have a geocache on my own private property. And responsible geocachers get permission before placing a cache anywhere.

 

[FireInMyBones]

Anyone else have experience with UW geocaches?

I ran across one in 50ft of water at Lake Jocassee. I wondered what it was there for.

 

[UntamedSpirit]

Okay. I've been orienteering and hiking in the backcountry for 40 years. Even before it was called orienteering or "geo-littering."

If I dump one bag of garbage in your front yard and pack out two bags, that's okay?

Parts is parts.

Litter is litter.

"Troves" are litter.

Bury your little treasures in your own yard, not on public property. And definitely leave the ocean out of your evil plans.

Litter is abandoned, geocaches are maintained, and removed if they seem to be causing harm to the environment, adding a small canister with wetnotes and minor trade items to a shipwreck would have little to no impact if done properly.

 

[ScubaBones]

Bury your little treasures in your own yard, not on public property. And definitely leave the ocean out of your evil plans.

Geocaches aren't buried. It is against the rules, and policed by the community.

 

[DiveNav]

I think I am going to add virtual geocaching to our scuba diving simulator ...
I like the idea of having a notebook hidden in our virtual dive sites and people that find it can write their name on it .... and move it around too.

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[iztok]

Yeah, trying to convice a geo-terrorist (geocacher) that "geocaching" is litter is like trying to convince a smoker that cigarette smoke is bad for everyone else around them.

So it all depends on the perpetrator's perspective? Following that logic, if I dump a bunch of garbage in your front yard and call it "geocaching," that's okay?

Doc Harry, you seriously have no clue what you are talking about. Perhaps reading some geocaching.com and rules you might figure out that things are not how you perceive them.

You will find out there are rules that are designed to combat exactly the issues you are concerned with.

You are demonizing activity that is probably more popular than diving and responsible for more trash removal than diving and environmentally less taxing than diving.