SeaWorld San Diego has teamed up with a local social media treasure-hunt account to hide cash and free park passes at four locations around the city, with the first prize already claimed and three more drops scheduled through mid-September. The scavenger hunt kicked off Saturday with two Silver Passes and $200 up for grabs, and organizers say clues to find each remaining prize are being posted online in real time.
The promotion pairs the theme park with San Diego Scavengers, an Instagram account run by content creator Seth Spurlock that has amassed more than 138,000 followers in six months by hiding cash in public spots around the county and dropping clue videos for fans to chase, according to Collabstr. Participants are asked to follow both SeaWorld San Diego and @sandiegoscavengers to catch scavenger hunt updates, according to SeaWorld San Diego, which is running the promotion in partnership with the account.
The prize schedule ramps up as it goes. After Saturday's $200-and-two-Silver-Passes drop, the hunt offers two more Silver Passes plus $300 on August 22, then two Gold Passes plus $400 on September 5, and finally two Platinum Passes, two Fun Cards, and $500 on September 12, per the seed footage from SeaWorld San Diego. San Diego Scavengers posts the clues needed to track down each prize on its account, giving followers a rolling set of hints rather than a single fixed location.
What the Prizes Are Actually Worth
The pass tiers baked into the giveaway carry real sticker prices. SeaWorld San Diego's 2026 pricing lists an annual Silver Pass at $216, a Gold Pass at $252, and a Platinum Pass at $387, while a Fun Card offering year-round general admission runs about $94.99. Combined with the cash, the September 12 haul of two Platinum Passes, two Fun Cards, and $500 adds up to well over $1,300 in prizes for whoever finds it first.
The park itself has deep roots in the region. SeaWorld San Diego opened on March 21, 1964, on 22 acres along Mission Bay and has since grown into a 189-acre marine zoological park, according to Wikipedia. It's owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts Inc., a publicly traded company that runs 12 theme and water parks across North America. The San Diego location remains one of the busiest in the country, drawing an estimated 4.0 million visitors in 2024 and ranking among the top 20 most-attended theme parks in North America, according to attendance data compiled by TEA/AECOM and reported by Mickey Visit.
New Rides Coming as the Hunt Plays Out
The scavenger hunt's September finish lines up with fresh additions at the park. In a February financial report, parent company United Parks & Resorts announced 2026 upgrades for SeaWorld San Diego, including a reimagined Shark Encounter exhibit under its Fin Shui initiative and a new inverted family coaster called Barracuda Strike, as reported by Blooloop. For pass winners, that means the free admission has some new attractions attached to it this year.
This isn't San Diego Scavengers' first run with a big local partner. Before linking up with SeaWorld, the account ran sponsored giveaways with businesses and sports teams including Soapy Joe's, the San Diego Padres, the San Diego Gulls, CashCo Pawn, and the San Diego Seals, per Collabstr. Local station FOX 5 San Diego reported in June 2024 that the account's countywide cash drops — including hiding $100 bills in Balboa Park — routinely trigger immediate rushes of followers racing to find the money, a pattern that suggests the SeaWorld drops could draw similar crowds.
A Format That's Gone National
Spurlock's cash-drop model has expanded well beyond San Diego. The Washington Post reported in April 2025 that San Diego Scavengers helped take the concept national by partnering with local creators to launch similar accounts in cities including Washington, D.C., Dallas, Nashville, and Miami. It's a format that has turned into a marketing tool for brands looking to generate real-world buzz through viral, location-based social media challenges.
Organized giveaways on public property in San Diego County still have to follow the rules. Official contest guidelines for promotional scavenger hunts in the county require compliance with California sweepstakes disclosure laws and municipal regulations governing the use of public space, according to the County of San Diego Parks and Recreation. It remains unclear exactly where within the city the remaining three prizes are hidden, or what, if any, crowd-control measures organizers have planned if large numbers of followers converge on a single spot at once.
