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Geocaching and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) is an awards programme for those aged between 14 to 24. You can find out more here.

Geocache

As part of the physical section, DofE participants have to create a physical programme. One activity that can contribute towards the completion of this section is geocaching!

Here are ten reasons why you should pick geocaching as your activity:

  1. Try a brand new hobby, or spend more time geocaching if you've found some in the past.
  2. With over 118,000 geocaches hidden in the UK, there's bound to be several near you, and the majority of them are available to find 24/7. So, this is a convenient activity that can fit around your schedule.
  3. It gets you out into the fresh air.
  4. It helps you discover unusual/interesting/beautiful locations.
  5. Geocaches are pretty much everywhere - you can choose to go on long walks in the countryside to find some, or simply stroll around your local village/town to bag some quick and easy ones!
  6. It can challenge you physically, if you choose to find high-terrain geocaches (these might involve tree climbing, caving, canoeing or more).
  7. It can challenge you mentally, if you seek high-difficulty geocaches.
  8. If you have a disability or learning difficulty, geocaching is the perfect activity as there are plenty of accessible geocaches.
  9. It can directly support elements of the skills programme and your expedition (e.g. navigation).
  10. You can be assured that an assessor will be able to support you.

Finding an Assessor

Assessors are independent and check/verify the completion of a DofE section. They should ideally be experts in the field.

If you cannot think of anyone, the GAGB would be happy to help you find an assessor - just contact us.

We will try our very best to find someone who is happy to take on this role and assess your progression. With many GAGB Reps and Friends based across the country, geocaching reviewers in every region, and experienced geocachers in each county, we should be able to recommend a suitable assessor.

We encourage anyone who is interested in becoming an assessor to read this guidance.

Setting your Goals

You should spend one hour per week on your physical activity for a fixed period of time.

You will need to set some goals for yourself. For example, you could focus on finding geocaches, completing geocaching challenges, or even hiding some new geocaches. If you need some help to get started with geocaching, check out this page.

Make sure that your geocaching goals are S.M.A.R.T:

Meaning Example
Specific What? When? Where? Find 3 geocaches every weekend near home
Measurable How will you measure this? Keeping a record of all finds (online or in a journal)
Attainable Can you achieve this? Yes, with some weekly planning
Realistic Can it even be done? Yes, there are enough geocaches nearby to find
Timely Is there a clear timeframe? A minimum of 3 geocache finds within 1+ hour(s) per week, for 3 months

Set yourself some good goals, and don't be afraid to ask your DofE Leader or assessor if you need any advice.

We wish you the best of luck in completing your DofE Award, and hope that you have a great time geocaching!