Is it worth getting a GoPro for family travel adventures?

Written by Jenny Lynn
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I had stopped using a GoPro for our family travels a few years ago. The image quality was just incomparable to my Google Pixel phone and with waterproof resistant cases for phones on the market, I started placing my phone in one of these rather than taking out the GoPro.

However, whilst hiking through a cave to have a mud bath in Vietnam, I was suddenly very aware that this was not the place to bring my phone. It was uncomfortable having the water resistant case hanging around my neck whilst I clambered over boulders in the dark, and if I wanted to take a photo, I’d have to make sure my hands were clean from mud before carefully extracting the phone.

And let’s not forget this is the phone that pretty much contains my entire personal and work life. Losing it is far from ideal. What on earth was I doing taking it into a dark, muddy cave in Vietnam?

Well, at least I did get the picture. And yes, it’s fuzzy and not in focus as I didn’t want the guide to take my precious phone out of the water resistant case and drop it in the mud.

TraveLynn Family at the Mud Cave in Phong Nha

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I also took my phone down the longest tube waterslide in the world at Escape Penang. Seriously, what was I thinking?

Miraculously, my phone has remained intact. It hasn’t been lost in a mud cave, or dropped down a waterslide. There’s only so much longer my luck is going to last.

Time to invest in another GoPro

Our adventures with the boys are getting more full-on as they get older. They want to zip-line across the jungle canopy, kayak on seas (this is no longer a pootle and very much a sibling competition), and hurtle down waterslides. I try to keep up from behind taking photos, and have realised that I really should not be relying on my phone to capture these memories.

I probably just need to upgrade my GoPro.

However advanced the protective technology is on your mobile phone nowadays, very few models have the same level of protection you find standard on the GoPro. There’s something very liberating about strapping the GoPro to your wrist or bike handlebars and forgetting it’s there. Plus you don’t need an extra waterproof cover for the GoPro at all when using it water. Just switch it on and go!

But what about photo quality?

I should probably now confess that my original GoPro was from 2018. Technology has moved on a fair bit since then, hasn’t it?

I now have the Gopro Hero12 and you know what? The image quality is much better than my Hero7. I no longer feel the need to rely on the quality of my phone camera.

Reasons why the image quality is so much better with the Gopro Hero12:

5.3K video which provides 91% more resolution than 4K
4x slo-mo (that’s 120 frames per second) at a ridiculously high 4K resolution. You can also ramp up the slo-mo to 8x (240 frames per second) at 2.7K.
Hydrophobic lens sheds water to keep your shots crystal clear when you’re in the water
HyperSmooth 6.0 continues to raise the bar for in-camera video stabilization, giving you impossibly smooth footage no matter how rough it gets. And it’s winning awards, too – an Emmy Award for In-camera sensor and software stabilization.
With HyperSmooth 6.0, HERO12 black automatically ensures you get the widest shots possible while using video stabilization depending on your speed and movement in the scene.
Horizon Lock, which is a built-in part of HyperSmooth 6.0, so it’s easier than ever to keep the horizon level when your camera rotates a full 360°.

The list continues beyond this and you can read all the technical improvements here.

Plus, the latest versions of the Gopro have a screen at the front of the device too now, so we can maintain a strong selfie game, because, parents, we all know that the easiest way to get a photo of all the family is with a selfie!

I should also mention that the GoPro Hero12 settings are accessed via touch screen and it’s very quick and easy to flick between functions.

The GoPro App

There’s a free mobile app you can download to your phone. This connects your phone to your GoPro by Bluetooth. Here you can save your favourite GoPro media to you phone, or upload directly to social media. Or even create little videos using the QuickStory function (the app also creates some automatically for you and sets them to music!)

This app makes it super easy to share and edit your media.

Do I recommend the GoPro for family travel?

Absolutely. Especially if you’re a family who like to experience adventure activities. It’s so small, and takes up barely any space in my backpack, protected in an old walking sock (although there are proper cases you can purchase). Plus, as it’s so robust, I don’t have any concerns of it breaking, and it wouldn’t matter if I dropped it into a beaker of wine (yes, I’ve once done that with an old phone when camping in Zambia).

Also, I don’t feel as nervous letting the boys play with it. I panic every time they borrow my phone to play Subway Surfers to kill time if we’re caught waiting anywhere and they haven’t got anything else to do. I let them play with the GoPro on a recent trip to Penang National Park (the video footage of them running around the beach and diving into holes was quite hilarious) and they also took it kayaking.

Although I really do need to get a strap for it, so whoever is using it can keep it secure to their wrist (I have my eye on this floating wrist strap).

However, they don’t come cheap, so it’s only really worthwhile if you’re a family who are likely to be partaking in adventurous activities where you wouldn’t be comfortable taking your phone. If you’ve got a snorkelling or diving trip planned though, the GoPro is pretty much an essential item. Indeed, we’ve got a trip to the Perhentian Islands next year and the GoPro will get a lot of use then.

And I’m not the only one that think’s the GoPro is fantastic for recording family travels:

I use Gopro due to its internal stabilisation, which meant we could get rid of the gimbal handle. It’s been a game change to get smooth footage, especially where kids are involved and move quickly.
Karen from Travel Mad Mum

With two kids running around Europe, kayaking, canoeing, parasailing and biking adventures, the GoPro is our go to gadget. The stability and clarity is unparalleled. Chasing after kids or diving into the water, videos retain an incredible smoothness while still shots capture in rich color.
Diana from The Elusive Family

Our GoPro is essential packing when we travel. We love that it’s so small and light it takes up no room at all in our day pack, but delivers the most phenomenal images. We love the wide angle lens for capturing the whole scene, and when kids are on the move (always!) burst shots make sure we can capture the perfect moment, without blur or eyes shut! Best camera we’ve invested in – and no problems letting the kids use it too.
Keri from Our Globetrotters