A new community class featuring the rapidly growing hobby of “adult treasure hunting” will begin this summer at Santa Fe College.
This outdoor treasure hunting game, known as geocaching, has become a worldwide trend.
The hobby involves using a GPS device to find hidden containers called geocaches, which contain logbooks, at specific locations.
Class instructor Chris Wagoner said there are millions of geocaches hidden throughout the world, including 1,500 in Gainesville, some of which are at UF and at SFC.
“I was astounded by the sheer number of them,” Wagoner said.
Wagoner, who has geocached all over the country and discovered more than 300 caches, said the containers range in hiding style and vary in their level of camouflage.
“They could be the size of a pill to a full-size ammo can,” he said.
Wagoner said geocaching is easy to do with a GPS, cellphone or Google Earth. People can register at geocaching.com or opencaching.com.
The class at SFC, Geocaching for Fun and Fitness, will begin July 14 and is open to people of all ages.
The class costs $24 per person and spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
University Police Department Capt. Jeff Holcomb began to geocache while camping with his family in 2009.
Holcomb said the more you geocache, the more aware you are to look for certain things.
Wagoner said some geocaches are even hidden in trees, disguised as bird nests.
“The secret is in camouflaging,” Wagoner said. “It’s fun trying to figure out where the hiding spot is.”
