The End of Tobermory?????

[Stoo]

here?
View attachment 413785

If not, where?

No.... that's the previous all day lot. See "Mermaid's Secret"? there's a big lot somewhat behind that... That's all day now, for $15. This is part of the reason I suggested you look at places on town. Drop your gear off, part at your hotel.

 

[Stoo]

Does Mrs. Stoo need any yard work done in exchange for free parking?

Clearly you haven't seen the yard at my beloved Squaller Holler. My idea of weed control is doing 6 point turns with a 5000# RHIB on a trailer in the back yard... Keeps those dandelions beaten into submission...

 

[Jimmy B]

Parking is becoming a hot topic for many towns looking to add income to the coffers. Sooner or later people are just going to have enough and just stop coming to stuff. Scuba experiences are already overpriced by the people offering services so Divers are looking for area's to cut back expenses as little as the seem. What's the price for a charter in Ontario these days 75 - 100 min and that doesn't include anything like the US charters in FLA do (snacks, free air, dive master etc). Most of my friends only dive Mexico and specialized trips because of the inflated cost of diving in Ontario.

 

[Stoo]

Instead I found free parking and did the extra walk.

For which your arteries thank you...

 

[rhwestfall]

We were pondering returning the truck back to Wireless Bay, and using a bike.... just somewhat annoying...

 

[NorthernPike]

@NorthernPike are you seriously suggesting your club cancelled their weekend over parking charges? Or did they cancel because they couldn't get people to commit?

The latter; members did not sign up for it in sufficient numbers.

 

[Stoo]

Most of my friends only dive Mexico and specialized trips because of the inflated cost of diving in Ontario.

Yes, and clearly the dive shop owners are all getting rich ripping us off... You all know the standard joke about how you become a millionaire running a dive shop? By starting with $2 million?

Diving in Ontario is not like diving in Mexico (obviously). Apart from the obvious, the season in Tobermory is 8 "strong weeks" with perhaps another four to six weeks on either end where there MIGHT be enough business to contribute to overhead. I ran a large dive operation in Tobermory in the early '80s, when there were three times as many divers coming up to town then. And even with that, our place made a modest profit and nothing more. If I was opening a business in Tobermory (or anywhere else where summer lasts about 12 weeks, it would not be a dive business that's for sure.

If you can't afford to dive in Ontario, then that's your issue, not the industry's. Do what I did... Get your Instructor's card and teach three nights a week and voila, self-supporting hobby. Plus you will get equipment deals, and free air most likely. Diving is not a poor-man's sport... it never has been and never will be. My main buddy and I joked about this once... someone was complaining about the the cost of a light... All I could think of was my second home for diving, my boat, $20K worth of camera gear, drysuits, multiple sets of doubles, singles, regs... I mean it's LITERALLY hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

[Stoo]

The latter; members did not sign up for it in sufficient numbers.

Right... and my guess is that none of them cited parking as the reason.

I agree, it's a pain in the butt, but it certainly isn't "The End of Days" as some would lead us to believe. It isn't even the "End of Tobermory" as the OP has prognosticated.

The reality is that tourism in Tobermory has never been stronger. With the US dollar strong again, there are lots of US plates in town... There are busloads of Chinese and European tourists arriving daily. Tourism is so strong there currently that I have been "threatened" on my FaceBook page for posting images that supposedly are attracting tourists, but to the chagrin of locals (Who are neither local by birth or even residency... they're mostly ex-pat bird watchers from Toronto).

As I mentioned earlier, of divers stop coming to Tobermory, they will ultimately be the ones who suffer since the shops will close, the charters with stop and that'll be it.

In fact even now, many divers show up with all of their tanks for the weekend because they don't want to pay Tobermory fill prices... Easy for me to say I know, but still, supporting the locals is never going to be a bad thing, although divers as a full tend to be a frugal bunch...

 

[rhwestfall]

As I said before, it isn't the price (sure, we would like it for free, but not in this day and age), but the fact that it appears the system doesn't work (can't purchase enough time to cover duration of charter, or early enough for a morning charter) is what is really frustrating. My wife honestly suggested we purchase the $100 annual parking permit as a standard cost for the trip. I tend to agree if we can.....

FWIW - it cost something like $50 in tolls for just crossing Switzerland (IIRC) when the wife was there last summer...

 

[rhwestfall]

Ontario residents only?

http://www.northbrucepeninsula.ca/s...dministration/Parking Pass Overview 2017.pdf