Some previous discussions of phase shifts at caustics have employed the WKBJ method of solution to the wave equation for a point source in a vertically stratified medium where a single sound‐speed minimum exists. Geometrical acoustic techniques are used in this paper to show for the same problem that a ray encounters only one caustic between turning points (starting with the first and second points), and that turning points and points of encounter with caustics approach one another with increasing range from the source.