Submitted by Brad Snyder, Float N’ Flag Dive Centre
Another incredible weekend of Float N’ Flag’s annual Tobermory Takeover with Divers Den is on the books, and over 80 people went home happy having explored the beauty of the Bruce Peninsula and the crystal clear waters of Fathom Five Marine Park that surround the spectacular shipwrecks that make their home here.
Each year, Tobermory is host to the Tobermory Takeover, Canada’s largest diving event. Brad and Tammy Snyder, of Float N’ Flag Dive Centre in Burlington, ON, began hosting this event 14 years ago. It’s grown to 80 divers, the largest it can get because they charter all of the boats at Divers Den and take over the entire Harbourside Motel for the weekend. It all begins with shore diving on the Friday afternoon so all the new participants can get a taste of cold water diving and get their weighting dialed in. This year, about 20 of the 80 divers were in Tobermory for the first time! Boats are then out exploring shipwrecks and awe inspiring geological dive sites on both Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to the 80 folks at the Harbourside, they also had a crew at the 100 Acre Lodge, which is where they host their Saturday night BBQ for 100+ people. Members of their community help out by making salads, grilling or serving food. There are games and fun activities, all supplied and set up by the Float N’ Flag team, that are spread out over the lawn for the inevitable spontaneous competition that breaks out. Another highlight is they even have our very own Marty from Tacomory come and play live music at the event.
2024 will make the 15th anniversary of the event, and Float N’ Flag has some special plans. There will be special deals with their key in town partners, Tacomory, Las Chulas and The Princess Hotel, who have all been long-term supporters of the event. There are a few other surprises they have in store for the 15th anniversary edition, but many of those will be well kept secrets until the event.
The Tobermory Takeover brings about $60,000 in revenue to the town of Tobermory for the one weekend event, but you’ll see Float N’ Flag and many of their divers up here throughout the diving season, many wearing their past Toby Takeover t-shirts! We look forward to seeing them all again.
