The bubbles weren’t just coming from the divers’ tanks at Stonebridge Marina Jan. 1.

Every New Year’s Day for the last 12 years, divers converge on Broad Cove at Stonebridge Marina for the annual New Year’s Day Champagne Dive, put on by the Buzzards Bay Dive Center in Onset. Participants lept into the frigid water to search for bottles of champagne hidden at the bottom of the cove. Though it is now an annual tradition for all, it began, said event organizer Steve Carey, in 1983 at the Aquarius Diving Center located on Route 28, and just involved himself and his four other friends.

This year, 12 participants braved the cold winter air to find their own bubbly treasures submerged in the cove’s water, but this number isn’t always the norm.

“We’ve had as many as 18 and as little as six, in the past,” Carey said.

After 30 minutes of exploring, most of the divers found and brought back to land their hard-earned treasures.

“I put 22 bottles of champagne in the water this year,” Carey said. “Five of the bottles weren’t found.”

Following the dive, participants and their guests chowed down on an array of warm foods at the Stonebridge Bar and Grille. Those who hunted for champagne got to keep their findings, and also won a t-shirt for their efforts.

And who knows? The five lonely bottles of champagne still sitting on the cove’s floor may yet find a home – or stomach – should some intrepid soul take to searching for them soon.