Big Tub Lighthouse Shore Dive At Tobermory
Last year we had to call off the shore dive at Big Tub Lighthouse in Tobermory due to rough waves so we ended up doing just the Tugs instead. This year, we got another chance but most divers did not want to make the drive up to Tobermory so only Greg and I ended up diving at Lighthouse and we had a great dive.
Big Tub Lighthouse is a rare wall dive in Ontario. Unlike most of our other shore dives where getting to deep areas is gradual, this one is a sheer drop off a cliff underwater. Although you can see the flat rock platform near the end of the video below where we started our dive, we started at waist high water standing on the platform but quickly jumped off to descend to about 60 feet. It bottoms out at 75 feet.
I decided to turn left and move along the bottom and then go up to mid depth at around 40-50 feet to come back in the other direction. We actually found the rock formations at this mid depth more interesting than the ones deeper. As expected, there wasn’t much fish life but we did spot quite a few white crayfish which Greg captured on video.
Although this was my first time diving at Big Tub Lighthouse, I did manage to bring us back to our initial starting point where we did our safety stop and ascent. As I made my way back to the rock platform, I spotted the only decent size fish on site which was a real nice bonus to end our dive. Although the water temperature at depth was 10-11 degrees C which was warm for Tobermory and not really that much different from the temperatures at depth for our other shore dives, we spent pretty well our entire dive in the thermocline. After this dive, I don’t think I would have wanted a second dive and with the ridiculous parking situation now at Tobermory charging $10 per hour, it would have been costly to dive over at the Tugs afterwards anyway since we would need two hours at each dive site.
On shore, it was a very busy Saturday with lots of non-diving tourists which found us scuba divers quite a spectacle to add to their visit. On the surface of the water, there were lots of kayakers too. So overall Big Tug Lighthouse was certainly worth diving but a weekday would definitely be easier in terms of the crowds and parking. However, due to the depth and cold water temperature since we are diving in the deeper thermocline for pretty well the entire dive, I would not recommend this site to those who have not dived much in cold water recently. And for going deep, best to gradually progress by diving Cedar Hill and Shanty Bay first since we don’t stay at the deepest areas too long.
