It's about a 4-hour drive from Toronto, or from London. You start off by making your way through farm country, alternately hilly and level. If you go along Highway 10 you have to drive over the rolling highlands of the Caledon Hills between Toronto and Shelburne. As you get farther north, although there's nothing to show it, you are actually crossing some of the highest elevations in southern and central Ontario, in Grey Country. Eventually you wind back downhill and reach the shore of Georgian Bay at the town of Owen Sound, a lovely spot in its own right.
From there, you head northwest and north along Highway 6. Twenty minutes or so out of Owen Sound you pass through the pretty little bayside town of Wiarton, famous for its weather-predicting groundhog, Wiarton Willie. For many Canadians, this also marks the "end of civilization" as there is no Tim Horton's outlet north of here on this road!
The highway continues north, up the middle of the Bruce Peninsula, mostly in long straight stretches with few hills, and almost an hour after Wiarton you arrive in the little village of Tobermory. The road ends here, except between May and October, when the ferry Chi-Cheemaun sails up to four round trips a day between here and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. From there, you can continue by car across the Island and on up into northern Ontario. But that trip is for another day.
Tobermory is an extreme example of a "seasonal" resort town. Many of the tourist facilities, lodges, motels, and restaurants close during the off-season -- which basically is defined by the ferry's sailing schedule. A large percentage of the visitors are on their way to or from points north, and often will stop for a meal, or even an overnight stay (especially if they are reserved on the 7:00 am sailing in summer!).
Another major source of tourism, though, is the scuba diving community. Tobermory lies around a pair of small rocky harbours, guarded by groups of islands and reefs, carved out of the ancient rock of the Niagara Escarpment. It's not a forgiving environment for sailors, yet this was a stopping point for many ships that used to provide local service up the peninsula, along the coast of the island to Sault Ste. Marie before the coming of highways -- a service colloquially referred to as "the turkey run". Not a few of those ships came to grief, especially during the brutal fall storms for which the Great Lakes are renowned, and the waters around Tobermory are littered with shipwrecks -- including four or five within the actual harbours! This region was designated years ago as Fathom Five Marine Park, the first underwater park in Canada, and is now incorporated into the Bruce Peninsula National Park.
Scuba divers come from all over to plunge into these cold waters and study the numerous shipwrecks. Even if you aren't a diver, you can still get close up and personal with several of the wrecks by taking a glass-bottom boat tour. Sadly, dropping water levels mean that the boats can no longer sail right over some of the wrecks in shallower water, but you still get a good look anyway. Many of the tours also include stops at the beautiful wilderness of uninhabited Flowerpot Island, which gets its name from the two rock stacks on its shores that look for all the world like giant flowerpots. A few wild campsites are available on the island, but most visitors come for only a short visit here. It's still a lovely spot.
Another special area is at the Cyprus Lake campground, south of Tobermory, where trails lead you through to the rocky eastern shore of the Bruce Peninsula, and the escarpment cliffs rising out of the lake there. This is the place for spectacular views!
Tobermory is renowned for its beautiful sunsets over the lake, and everyone has a different favourite spot to view them. You'll have no trouble getting suggestions, and directions, to a good place.
The village itself is not overly changed by tourism. The motels are there, but they aren't obtrusive blots on the landscape. Likewise the cafes and restaurants. You'll find no shopping malls, outlets, or national brand stores of any kind. Remember, you're an hour's drive north of the nearest Timmy! There are a number of tourist gift shops and candy stores along Bay Street, and a few little places selling local arts and crafts. It's a great place to walk. Traffic is light, except when the ferry comes in, and there are roads or paths all around both arms of the harbour -- called the Little Tub and the Big Tub. The ferry dock is right at the point of land between the two arms, as the ship is far too big to get any farther in.
I particularly like Tobermory in September. The air is fresh and clear, the crowds considerably diminished once school starts again. After Labour Day the ferry drops back to its spring-and-fall schedule of twice a day. The whole place becomes quieter, more peaceful, and in a few weeks you even get the beginnings of the fall colours.
My own particular favourite spot is a few kilometres south of the village, off the west side of the highway. This is the beach at Dorcas Bay, which is nicknamed "the Singing Sands". Picture a bay a kilometre wide, with a broad flat pan of sand spreading from side to side and out into the water. Even at a terrific distance from the shore the water is still wading depth. Thus, at every visit, the shoreline will "appear" to be in a different spot, due to the rises and falls of the water level. The Great Lakes aren't quite tidewater, but there can be a fair difference in water level from spring to summer to fall, and Dorcas Bay is one place where the differences get really dramatic! The name, "Singing Sands" comes from the fact that in the right weather conditions (dry and breezy, with the wind at the right angle) the sand will actually begin to create a kind of humming sound. Several other specific beaches on the Great Lakes share this peculiar natural phenomenon.
Even in summer, with tourists swarming around the village, most of Tobermory maintains a remarkably peaceful atmosphere. Especially this becomes true in the evening, when the daytrippers have left and the ferry passengers have gone. The cool breezes, evergreen forests, rocky shores, and lapping waters create an atmosphere in which it becomes very easy to park the cellphone, put away the tablet, and just sit down, relax and absorb nature. We need more opportunities like this in our hectic lives!
Oh, by the way -- the peculiar title of this post? Tobermory is named after a town on the Isle of Mull in western Scotland. The name is said to be derived from the Gaelic Tobar Mhoire, which means "The Well of the Virgin Mary".
