Over the past few years there have been numerous Web sites pop up vying for a place in the vast caching community. These sites range from listing sites that mirror geocaching.com, to sites that offer alternative games to use you GPSr for, and yes, even magazines such as this one. Let’s explore these sites and break down what it is they have to offer the caching community.

geocaching.com This was the second site ever offered to the public for the use of listing caches. The first site went down due to technical problems and Jeremy Irish and company were standing by ready to take over. In over four years of operation it has helped guide caching into the sport that it is today.

The site has gone through many trials and errors, building what is arguably the fastest growing sport in the world. It is also the largest listing site in the world with well over 300,000 registered accounts.

navicache.com This was the next site to pop up after geocaching.com. Navicache entered the market the best that I can tell, to offer an alternative to geocaching.com. The site offered listings that geocaching no longer offered, such as locationless caches and moving caches.

The biggest downfall so far, for this site, has been that it allows cross posting of caches that are posted on other listing sites. Also the desires for locationless caches and moving caches really aren’t that great. So I really don’t see how they expect to grow large enough to ever offer geocaching.com any competition.

terracaching.com This is the newest listing site to start up a business. It is apparently trying to learn from navicache.com's mistakes. It does not allow cross postings from other sites. However, it has followed the footsteps of navicache.com by listing types of caches that geocaching no longer permits, or strictly regulates, such as virtual and locationless caches.

What makes terracaching.com unique is the twist they throw in the mix. If you want to become a member of either geocaching.com or navicache.com, all you have to do is open an account and its happy hunting and hiding. Not so with terracaching.com; they have come up with a system that requires two sponsors that are willing to take responsibility for you and your caches. Those two sponsors are the ones that will approve your future caches. It usually only takes only a few minutes to get sponsors. I personally got sponsored within 10 minutes. Your results may vary.

Another thing that terracaching.com offers is a point system for you competitive people. I have no idea of how to explain this system. You’ll have to check it out for yourself. This system also encourages people to rate the caches that they find. The object is to place quality caches, versus lame caches, such as Wal-Mart parking lot caches.

So to sum it all up, and keep in mind that this is only my personal opinion, I don’t see any alternate sites at this time becoming a powerhouse for the caching community. So far, no one has offered anything that is really worth switching from geocaching.com. Terracaching.com may have some promise, but I seriously doubt that they or navicache.com will find a niche in this market for the following reasons: