A Confederate Civil War-era blockade runner, sunk in 1864 carrying much-needed supplies to the South. Whilst being piloted by a Bermudian who had said “I know every rock here as well as I know my own house” she struck the reef and sank within 8 minutes. The only casualty was the ship's cook who had returned to his cabin for personal belongings. She sits at about 55ft (17m) in a sand patch surrounded by reef. The Mary is the only paddle wreck that has one of it’s paddles still intact and is a highlight of the dive.
In 2011 after a particularly strong storm had removed a large quantity of sand from the bow section of the wreck, a team of marine archaeologists uncovered several sealed bottles of French wine and bottles of perfume. The PBS documentary in this post about the expedition was released in 2015. A bottle of the wine was opened and tasted at the Charleston Wine & Food Festival. Food & Wine magazine's Ray Isle subsequently learned to dive with us in order to dive on and write an article on the Mary Celestia. He also conducted an interview with William Shatner on the subject. In addition, local perfumery Lili Bermuda has recreated the perfume found aboard, which is currently on sale.
It is one of our frequently visited sites from our Fairmont Southampton location and our guides know ‘the Mari’ inside and out. But if you cant wait to see it in person the XL Catlin Seaview Survey created a 360° panorama of the Mary Celestia in 2013, which you can explore on their website as one of six virtual dives in Bermuda.
