Geocaching vs Pokémon Go

Well let's see, I have been Geocaching for the past 7 years but only Pokémon Going for the past 7 days!


I started Geocaching in March 2009. I used a Garmin GPS device but we even used the car's SatNav to get the first few caches before the GPS arrived.

You just need something that can use GPS coordinates to get you going. I changed to a tablet in October 2013 then Smartphone in April this year!

It is easier with the App for the iphone or android devices which was £6 back when I got it but seems to be free now.

You will need to register on the Geocaching website www.geocaching.com but basic membership is free.

I upgraded to Premium member in August 2014 the cost there is £24.99 a year.

The guide to it all is here, but basically, people, that is anyone who is registered, hides a cache and sets up a page on the website with the coordinates of its location and other interesting information. Then other people look for hidden caches and go and find them, write in the cache's log and then log their visit on the website.

Caches come in all shapes and sizes. From nano to quite large. But quite a lot are in 35mm film canisters.

The bigger ones contain goodies for swapping, which great of the little ones.

Some even have travel bugs which you take away and then replace in another cache for them to rack up miles on their logs.


An advantage of Geocaching is that you can look on the website or the App, at a location anywhere in the world, and plan where you'd like to go. (The smiley is one I've found in this location)

To navigate to the cache it will tell you which way to go and how close you are to it too.

It surprisingly takes you to lovely walks in the countryside but also to urban areas, but that is your choice.

So I guess if you have a smartphone or tablet with GPS, download the app, register on the website, then off you go.

So where does Pokémon differ from that?

Well firstly it seems to have hit the headlines, possibly for the wrong reasons, but unless you have been hiding under a rock you should have at least heard of it by now.


It is quite similar, in that it gets you out finding stuff, the stuff however is virtual not real.

It is only configured for smartphones not tablets, but still you download the free App, create your avatar (always wanted purple hair!) and off you go.

A downside for me is that it only shows you 360 degrees around your current vicinity so you can't really plan where to go. It doesn't show you which direction the Pokémons are lurking in just that they are close or not so close.

As a result I have just been walking around hoping my phone will vibrate to alert me to a Pokémon presence, not so good for battery life.

I believe the Pokémon are concentrated in busy areas, like towns and parks so not so good in rural places.

There are interesting places set up called Pokéstops, e.g. churchyards, parks, libraries, where you can collect virtual stuff and I have found some quite interesting too.

There are Pokégyms where you can battle other Pokémons but you need to be at least level 5 for that and not sure I can be bothered as not a gamer as such.

So I guess I need more experience with Pokémon still but I can have it running when I go out urban geocaching and collect whatever I find then.

Yes another string to the bow.