Reefwander
Sálvora island and its scattered granite islets in a blue sea, seen over the village of Aguiño and its fields

Sálvora, Ons & Ría de Arousa · Spain · Wreck

Aries wreck

A 47 m freighter upright on her keel at 21 m

Area photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga) · CC BY-SA 3.0

The Aries is a 47 m cargo ship that sank in 1977 and now rests upright on her keel on a sand bottom at a maximum of 21 m. She is in good condition, and the dive circles the whole hull before visiting the hold and the bridge, where the old bathtub and the cabin compartments remain.

Also known as Aries, Pecio Aries.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Aries wreck: typical dive to 21 m (to 70 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit21 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

No published position for this site — the map shows Sálvora, Ons & Ría de Arousa and its other sites; operators know the mooring.

The dive

The Aries is a cargo ship 47 m long that went down in 1977. Her state of preservation is good: she rests upright on her keel on a sand bottom, with a maximum depth of 21 m at the sand. The dive is planned as a full circuit of the wreck rather than a visit to one section of it, and it is one of the boat dives on the trip list of Centro de Buceo Medusa, rated for Open Water divers.

The route goes right around the perimeter of the hull, then over the hold and up to the bridge. Around the bridge the old bathtub can still be seen, along with the compartments of the cabins and the wheelhouse. The wreck gives shelter to velvet swimming crabs, spider crabs, cuttlefish, John Dory, ballan wrasse and pouting.

The wreck

Vessel
Aries
Type
Cargo ship
Length
47 m (154 ft)
Sunk
1977
Cause
Cause not recorded
Lies
Upright on her keel on a sand bottom, 21 m at the deepest

Marine life and season

  • Octopus & cuttlefish
Month-by-month season rating for Aries wreck
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGood

Season follows Sálvora, Ons & Ría de Arousa: The centres dive all year and no month is reported as best; the public ferries to Ons run in the high season, at Easter and from 15 May to 15 September.

Dive videos

ARIES · Hydronauta Centro de Buceo on YouTube

VIDA EN EL ARIES · Hydronauta Centro de Buceo on YouTube

Questions divers ask

How deep is the Aries wreck?+

The Aries rests upright on a sand bottom with a maximum depth of 21 m.

How big is the Aries wreck?+

The Aries is a 47 m cargo ship that sank in 1977 and is still in good condition.

Sources

  1. Salidas de buceo (Centro de Buceo Medusa) — Náutica Medusa
  2. Vilagarcía de Arousa sea temperature — seatemperature.org

More dive sites in Sálvora, Ons & Ría de Arousa

National-park island at the mouth of the Ría de Arousa

to 25 mintermediate

Granite blocks stacked into caves and passages

5–17 mbeginner

Boulder islet near the Isla de Arousa, 5 to 16 m

5–16 mbeginner

Remains of Galicia's worst shipwreck, lost off Sálvora in 1921

to 15 mbeginner

Similar dives elsewhere

Wreck

Las Calderas

Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar · Spain

Three boilers still standing in an early-1900s wreck at 8–20 m

8–20 mbeginner

Wreck

River Gurara — stern

Sesimbra & the Arrábida · Portugal

The shallower half of the River Gurara, at 23 m

to 23 madvanced

Wreck

Cristóbal Colón

Bermuda · Bermuda

Nearly 152 metres of liner (500 feet), broken across the reef in under 20 m

4.6–18.3 mbeginner

Wreck

Cyrano

Île de Groix & Lorient · France

A sunken tug close to Port-Lay, home of the island's dive club

to 18 mbeginner