Whenever we describe the hobby of geocaching to people we get asked the same question, ‘How Do You Get Started Geocaching?’ and it always starts the same, download the geocaching app. So we decided to put together a few beginner steps to help curious adventure seekers get out of the house and start discovering geocaches around the world! The best way to get started with Geocaching is to set up a FREE profile and download the Geocaching App to your SmartPhone. If you don’t have a SmartPhone, you can just use a Garmin (GPS unit) without the app.

Create a Geocaching Profile (FREE)

First things first, you will need to create a Geocaching profile. It’s easy to get started. To set up a profile go to Geocaching.com to register for free. The website makes it easy to set yourself up and provides basic information to help get you started and become familiarized with your new hobby. You will need to come up with a fun Geocaching Nickname. Think of something that you like, because this will be your new name in the geocaching world! For example, we don’t get called Liz and Josh as much as we get called Peanuts or Pretzels among geocachers.

Once you get this part set up, browse around the website to get familiar with it. Your profile will be set up just like all social media sites out there. Once you get you have registered, then you are ready to start geocaching! The way Liz and I started geocaching was with our SmartPhone. We first got the (FREE) Geocaching app and found a couple of easy caches to see if we enjoyed it. And we loved it!

Free Membership sign up

Geocaching® – Free App

Finally, after years of developing and testing, the guys at Geocaching HQ have come up with an app that does everything. No more official paid geocaching app and no more geocaching intro app. This new geocaching app is for all levels of cachers. If you are a beginner, then you will find short videos explaining all the different types of caches out there to be found. In our opinion, this is the only app you will need to go geocaching. It will help guide you along the process of learning all about this amazing fun-filled game that you can play in over 185 countries all around the world.

Geocaching Premium Membership ($30 per year)

If you become a geocaching enthusiast, then you may be interested in becoming a full-fledged Geocaching Premium Member for a yearly fee of $30. We became members several months after becoming more familiarized with Geocaching and the community. Once you have become a member, a whole new series of caches open up to you because some caches are made available to members only. We have found that members-only caches are more cleverly hidden and, honestly, more fun to discover.

In the future, Geocaching may begin to cater more to its Premium Members by allowing certain Member Only activities. For example, Geocaching just recently released news about its Lab Caches; a certain type of geocache that is only open for Member Only caching. In our opinion, it is well worth the $30 per year.