Over the past 30 years, the Mary-D has concentrated on running day tours to the Amedee Lighthouse Island, 24 kilometers west of Noumea. This service typically runs four days a week and transports close to 25,000 visitors annually to "Le Phare Amedee".
Our primary vessel is the Mary-D Dolphin. It is our fifth boat put into service and was built most recently in 1998. It is a modern and stylish boat and can accommodate up to 200 people. The Mary-D also specializes in private charters for group functions, school group outings, weddings, dinner cruises and cocktail parties.
The Mary-D has 28 employees who cover all facets of the operation. We have a self-catering kitchen that prepares food four days a week for day-trips to Amedee Island and for dinner cruises which run up to four times a week. We also have an in-house maintenance program where all repairs and service are done for the two ships that are in our fleet. A large number of the employees have been with the company over 10 years with a few who have been working since its inception. This has created a very family like organization within the company.
We started in 1980 with our 1st vessel "Mary D", which was only 17m with a capacity of 75 pasengers and we took one hour and forty-five mins to reach the Amedee island, since then we have upgraded progressively with the California and the Mary D Hydroflite, till our existing fleet of 2 vessels:
Mary-D's main product is the Phare Amedee Lighthouse day trip. In 1999, France presented the Mary-D with the Bronze Medal for Tourism as one of the best Tourist Attractions in the South Pacific. The product has developed over the years to include a barrier reef cruise, glass bottom boat tour to discover the coral and fish around the island, welcome drink, hot and cold lunch buffet including many local and seafood dishes, a folkloric dance show during lunch, coconut climbing demonstrations and a sarong tying demonstration.
In the 30 years the Mary-D has been transporting visitors to Le Phare Amedee, we have dramatically improved the conditions to facilitate bringing visitors to the island every day. On the island you will find a fully equipped restaurant including a full bar and boutique for souvenirs. There is also running water for toilets and fresh showers for rinsing. The Amedee Lighthouse Island marks one of three main entrances into the Noumea's lagoon, the Boulari passage.
