New Diver in Ontario

[shoredivr]

The time for diving the Anchor is limited to when the tour boats leave the water, usually Thanksgiving in October, till freeze-up; then in the spring from when the ice is gone until the tour boats go back in on the May long weekend.

You can see why with this photo: the white t-dock is one of the tour boat docks.

In the off season, park your vehicle where the “o” in dock is. Unload your gear onto the ground. Immediately after unloading, move your vehicle and park on the road in the circled area. There is no parking for divers except on the road.

Return to your gear, and gear up. Or, if you don’t mind the walk in your gear, you can gear up at your car, and walk towards the entry site.

There is a steepish clamber down to the water. There are flat areas in the limestone rock to stand while you put your fins on.

Enter the water, do a gear check with your buddy to make sure you’re both squared away, then descend down the wall to about a 40 ft depth. Swim to the right, for about 15 minutes. Keep looking into the water to your left. The anchor is always a little farther than I think it should be, but it’s quite unmistakable. It’s in about 60 ft of water.

The photos of me swimming around the anchor taken by Jerzy Kowalczuk in late December a few years ago.

 

[Luke99]

if you're going to go the season pass route, and plan on going a bunch, think about booking your accommodation sooner rather than later. Things book up fast as the season approaches. We stay at the Harborside motel, since it's steps (literally) down to the dock, takes care of the parking issues, and is super convenient. You can basically park once and everything is walkable.

Will definitely pre-book early. We will likely plan our 6-7 weeks in advance. Might make some camping trips out of it as well. Maybe drive up on a friday afternoon, dive saturday, and sunday morning and head back sunday evening. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from where i am currently so not terrible.

Been doing more and more research into potential dive sites in Ontario, I could definitely see this being something I could get obsessed with haha. Always another wreck it seems.

 

[shoredivr]

Will definitely pre-book early. We will likely plan our 6-7 weeks in advance. Might make some camping trips out of it as well. Maybe drive up on a friday afternoon, dive saturday, and sunday morning and head back sunday evening. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from where i am currently so not terrible.

Been doing more and more research into potential dive sites in Ontario, I could definitely see this being something I could get obsessed with haha. Always another wreck it seems.

I passed the point of obsession 25 years ago. I live north of Guelph, ON, and often drive up to Cedar Hill in Wiarton, or Tobermory for a day trip. Send me a DM and maybe we can do some dives together.

Here’s a great map for shore diving sites in Canada:

Deansdiving.ca

www.deansdiving.ca

 

[Luke99]

The time for diving the Anchor is limited to when the tour boats leave the water, usually Thanksgiving in October, till freeze-up; then in the spring from when the ice is gone until the tour boats go back in on the May long weekend.

You can see why with this photo: the white t-dock is one of the tour boat docks.

In the off season, park your vehicle where the “o” in dock is. Unload your gear onto the ground. Immediately after unloading, move your vehicle and park on the road in the circled area. There is no parking for divers except on the road.

Return to your gear, and gear up. Or, if you don’t mind the walk in your gear, you can gear up at your car, and walk towards the entry site.

There is a steepish clamber down to the water. There are flat areas in the limestone rock to stand while you put your fins on.

Enter the water, do a gear check with your buddy to make sure you’re both squared away, then descend down the wall to about a 40 ft depth. Swim to the right, for about 15 minutes. Keep looking into the water to your left. The anchor is always a little farther than I think it should be, but it’s quite unmistakable. It’s in about 60 ft of water.

The photos of me swimming around the anchor taken by Jerzy Kowalczuk in late December a few years ago.
View attachment 768096View attachment 768098View attachment 768097

Ohhh good to know. Maybe that could cap off my diving season!

Thanks for the info

 

[Luke99]

For anyone that has dove the Arabia in Tobermory, do you think it is doable in July/September in a 2 piece 7mm wetsuit? so 14mm core 7mm elsewhere.

Or it really only doable with a dry suit? I know everyone is different when it comes to water temp, but just looking for general opinions.

I think the Arabia would be a great goal for the end of the season, but if it is only doable on dry suit then id have to get dry suit certified in advanced and get out atleast a weekend or 2 to be comfortable in a rental dry suit.

Luke

 

[Jared0425]

For anyone that has dove the Arabia in Tobermory, do you think it is doable in July/September in a 2 piece 7mm wetsuit? so 14mm core 7mm elsewhere.

Depends on your hardiness, but generally yes you can do it in a farmer john 7mm.

 

[Tournesol2000]

This is a concern of mine as well. I honestly get chilly near the end of dives in 80F water with a 2mm shortie. So in the cold great lake water this may be something I need to get used to, especially since DD rents 2 piece 7MM wets. I definitely could see investing in a dry, or maybe a semi dry depending on how often we think we will go. Semi dry does seem like a good option for the kind of diving I would likely do locally.

Maybe i can rent one somewhere to test it out to see if its worth it for me first.



Sorry somehow missed you reply. This would be great if a LDS did this, i have not seen this posted on any of their websites but maybe its something i could ask about! What LDS are you talking about with this offer if you don't mind me asking?

Check out Aqua Sub Scuba. I think they offer something to this effect if not exactly what you are asking
Welcome

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

For anyone that has dove the Arabia in Tobermory, do you think it is doable in July/September in a 2 piece 7mm wetsuit? so 14mm core 7mm elsewhere.

Or it really only doable with a dry suit? I know everyone is different when it comes to water temp, but just looking for general opinions.

I think the Arabia would be a great goal for the end of the season, but if it is only doable on dry suit then id have to get dry suit certified in advanced and get out atleast a weekend or 2 to be comfortable in a rental dry suit.

Luke

I have dove the Arabia several times, it is a very advanced cold dive, over 12 divers have died on her. With your dive count and dive experience, I would get some cold water diving experience under your belt and wait at least a couple of years before diving her.

 

[Apriori]

Heya, I'm local, close to Tobermory/Owen Sound area. Got my AOW, getting my dry suit this year, looking for a local buddy. Going on a group dive end of May for wrecks, hit me up, will send details.

Also, the group I'm going with has equipment rentals.

 

[Lee Strickland]

I w

Hi There,

I am new here so hello everyone!

Thought I would poll you guys on your thoughts for how a newer diver could/should get into the diving scene in Ontario.

Background:
Padi OW Certified in Grenada in Jan 2022.
Padi Nitrox June 2022 and dove twice on nitrox up near Penetanguishene Ontario on the Maple dawn and Marquette as part of that cert package.
Padi AOW in Roatan Sept 2022 plus quite a few fun dives.
6 Basic fun dives in Puerto Plata, Dominican Jan 2023
25 Total Dives including training dives.

I am definitely hooked on diving at this point. I prefer diving in the warmer waters of the Caribbean but I do want to experiment diving locally more as well, especially Tobermory. I have up to this point been diving with my wife but my interest is a bit more obsessive then hers I think lol.

I don't own most gear, have warm water fins, computer, and mask. So diving locally is expensive having to rent gear every time, and I don't have a local dive buddy. The cost of renting gear locally really has been the main barrier to diving more here, so I might have to just bite the bullet and spend what I need to dive in here and in cold water (wetsuit(or if i really want to invest, drysuit + cert), BP/W, reg, etc), but I need a buddy that wants to dive with me since the wife likely wont.

So what's the best way to find a like minded/experience level dive buddy for the odd weekend dive in Ontario? (within a few hours of the GTA). If anyone has recommendations that would be appreciated, or anyone here in a similar situation and skill level and would be looking for a buddy now come summer!

oud