Panarbora celebrates 25 years of geocaching

On Saturday, 5 July 2025, „Piratemania“, one of the world's largest gatherings for geocachers, will be coming to Waldbröl in the Bergisches Land region - more precisely to the Waldbröl Youth Hostel's „Panarbora“ nature adventure park. And because geocaching is also 25 years old this year, Kevin Deppe, manager of the youth hostel, is expecting guests from all over the world.

What exactly is geocaching?

Geocaching is a modern, worldwide outdoor adventure in which participants search for „treasures“ - known as caches - using GPS devices. The popular leisure activity dates back to the year 2000, when US American Dave Ulmer hid a Tupperware box with a logbook and small objects in the forests of Oregon and shared the GPS coordinates online. The idea was that other people would search for the „treasure“ using GPS. Today, there are more than 8 million geocachers worldwide who regularly take part in geocaching activities. One of the best-known geocaching events in Germany is „Piratemania“.

„Piratemania“ in „Panarbora“

It is no coincidence that the geocaching event is taking place in Waldbröl. Jens Decke, one of the chief organisers, lives in the town in the Bergisch region. With a colourful programme of tricky treasure hunts, interactive pirate stations, picnics and expert talks, he wants to attract as many people as possible to the „pirate's nest“ in „Panarbora“.

And this is meant literally: for one weekend, Panarbora is transformed into a real pirate's nest! The pirate stands for great freedom, the urge to get out into nature and to get up to mischief, explains organiser Alexander Klein with a wink. In keeping with this, guests can look forward to a beach volleyball tournament in pirate costume and even a rum tasting. Prizes will be awarded for the best costumes - so it's worth being creative!

Offer „Piratemania 25 years of geocaching“

Waldbröl Youth Hostel is perfect for organising „Piratemania“ and has put together a special accommodation package to mark the 25th anniversary of geocaching. With a guest house, several tree houses, yurts, clay and stilt houses, the park has a particularly large and varied range of accommodation. Guests can therefore stay in the front row and have free access to the complete Piratemania programme.

The journey is also worthwhile for non-GPS fans: The view from a height of 34 metres over the Bergisches Land from the spectacular observation tower and the bird's eye view on a walk along the treetop path, adventure playground, sensory trail and play tunnel provide plenty of variety. The sheep, goats and Yoshi the therapy pig are also happy to welcome visitors.

Overnight package for single travellers and couples

Overnight package for families

Special features of the event

A total of around 100 helpers will be on hand on the day of the event to ensure that everything runs smoothly. A special highlight for geocaching fans: „Panarbora“ is also where the so-called Woodies - are passionate collectors who swap wooden coins. They produced their own coins especially for the event.

A special cache with lots of technical gadgetry will also be hidden on the site - not just for the weekend, but also for future visitors. And a so-called „coin“ is also going on a long journey in Panarbora: This is a cache with a tag that is passed on from finder to finder and placed in new hiding places each time - documented in the online logbook.

Important information for day guests

On the day of the event, admission to the park is 10,- € per person from 4 years! The park is open on this day from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm. On Sunday, 06 July 2025, the park will be closed for organisational reasons.