Scuba diving holiday in the Caribbean inspires Canadian to turn local geocaching into a scuba diving adventure

Following a recent scuba diving holiday in the Caribbean island of Bonaire where Canadian resident Bob Simpson found 3 separate caches, Mr Simpson has been inspired to hide a few caches in Canadian waters, making him the first person in Canada to turn this unique treasure hunting game into a real scuba diving adventure.

Along with fellow diver and owner of a local dive shop Shirley White, Mr Simpson has set the goal of hiding the caches in time for the month of July when geocachers are expected to converge on Vancouver Island for the Island Spirit 2012 Geocaching Mega-Event.

Image by randapex, on Flickr.

Geocaching is a modern day treasure hunting game open to anyone with a global positioning system (GPS) enabled device. The GPS co-ordinates of caches are listed on websites like geocaching.com where membership is free, with these coordinates treasure hunters then go off in search of these caches enter their name in the provided log before replacing the cache in its original hiding spot.

All geocaching experts will note that it's all about location location location, with the journey to find a cache leading travellers to some of the most beautiful sites. Of course this journey is made even more spectacular when taken underwater as they are often hidden in some the best scuba diving destinations. "It's not about the find, it's about the hunt… I've made caches where a scuba diver would want to go and the ones I've created take them to some of the best dive spots on Vancouver Island" noted Mr Simpson.

Image by directdivers, on Flickr.

It comes as no surprise that Mr Simpson's experiences in the magical island of Bonaire have motivated him to attempt to re-create a taste of his adventure for his fellow Canadians to enjoy. Bonaire has built up a solid reputation as the destination of choice for travellers booking scuba diving holidays in the Caribbean. Recently, Bonaire had the honour of receiving five diving awards from the readers of Scuba Diving Magazine including the first place for Best Overall Dive Destination- an award which it has now won for the tenth consecutive year. Additionally, Bonaire was named as the destination with the Best Marine Life and also placed second in the category for Best Marine Environment.

The eye-watering beauty beneath Bonnaire's crystal clear waters is made even more enticing when paired with the adventure that an activity like geocaching brings to the diver.