Who doesn’t like a treasure hunt? The map, the clues, the anticipation…? I just found a way to bring a little bit of Sherlock Holmes mystery into our daily lives.
Geocaching is treasure hunting, modern-day style with GDS devices, and it’s fun for the whole family. It turns out that Singapore, and much of the planet actually, is filled with treasures waiting to be discovered.
This is how it works: someone hides a box with a log and perhaps an object, and then reports the treasure to Geocaching.com with GPS co-ordinates, a description and perhaps some clues. You can see the treasures on the Geocaching app and it’s easy to see if there are any near your current location. There are various levels of difficulties – expect some serious code hacking for the most challenging ones! So far, we have found two treasures with a low difficulty level and that has been a good start for us.
We were at Siloso Beach at Sentosa this weekend and went geocaching as a break from all the sun bathing. It turned out one treasure was hidden just a few minutes away, and we found the pill box without even breaking a sweat. Where the box was hidden was a little more tricky, but voila, we were eventually successful!
We logged our names on the paper log in the box, and also logged the find online when we came home. A treasure may hold some objects, and the rule is if you take something away, you need to put something back.
Geocaching adds a bit of fun to outings, and it can also be your outing if you need an excuse to leave the house. You get some fresh air, solve a mystery, and perhaps learn a thing or two about the site you discover. Of course you can also make your own treasures: fill a box with objects that matter to you and hide it at a place that’s important to you. An historial place perhaps, a beautiful view point, or perhaps someplace completely insignificant and silly just to throw make the hunt more difficult.
I also like that it’s a little naughty – geocaching is taking common public place and making it your own playground, unbeknownst to everyone else.
Two treasures found, several thousand to go on this tiny island alone… That ought to keep us busy 
Sounds like a fun day out!
It was! Geocaching is a pretty good way to explore the “wild” outdoors we have on this island. I’m quite keen on making a treasure myself. Bet it would be filled with old toy cars….
There are 4 or 5 (maybe more) around the Marina Bay area. If you start at the Esplanade, there are three that are pretty close. There’s also a cache at Newton Hawker center if you’re ever in that area. These will all need an adult to help out with though. Still a fun outing!
Thanks for the tip! It’s amazing how many there are in Singapore. And since all you need is a Smartphone you can really ‘cash whenever you wish.