Giant clam on the reef off Pulau Weh, Aceh

Photo: prilfish, cropped, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sophie Rickmers Wreck

Sabang, Pulau Weh, Indonesia

  • Mild current
  • Best Oct to Apr

Sophie Rickmers Wreck is a technical dive site in Sabang, Pulau Weh, Indonesia. Dives run from 37 to 60 m, with mild current. The best months are October to April. Marine life here includes barracuda and grouper. 3 dive shops on Scubalo run trips here.

Updated

Conditions at Sophie Rickmers Wreck

Max depth
60 m
Depth range
37–60 m
Current
Mild
Level
Technical
Depth profile: dives from 37 m to 60 m.

Safety

Depth
Past recreational limits; technical training and decompression planning required.

About Sophie Rickmers Wreck

The Sophie Rickmers is a 134 metre German cargo ship scuttled by her own crew in May 1940 in a sheltered bay off Sabang, Pulau Weh. The wheelhouse sits at about 37 metres and the bow below 55, making it a deep decompression dive for experienced divers.

The Sophie Rickmers was a German cargo ship built in 1920, 134 metres long and at the time the largest ship of the Rickmers line of Hamburg. When the Second World War broke out she took shelter at Sabang, on Pulau Weh. In May 1940, as Dutch forces moved to seize her, her crew scuttled her in the sheltered bay of Pria Laot, where she still lies upright and largely intact.

It is a deep dive. The top of the wheelhouse is at about 37 metres, the decks around 45 metres and the bow below 55 metres, so every dive here involves decompression. Shops on the island ask for an advanced certification and plenty of logged dives, and many plan it as a technical dive. The hull is grown over with hard corals and draws fish from the surrounding bay.

In 2014 a plan to raise the wreck was dropped after a public campaign by divers and residents to keep it in place.

When to dive Sophie Rickmers Wreck

Best months: January, February, March, April, October, November, December.

Season

Right now
Year round
Pulau Weh is dived all year.
Calmest months
October to April, with the calmest seas and best visibility.

Marine life at Sophie Rickmers Wreck

What divers report seeing here. Tap one to see where else it turns up.

Type of diving

Location

Questions about Sophie Rickmers Wreck

What is the Sophie Rickmers wreck?

A German cargo ship built in 1920, 134 metres long. Her crew scuttled her in May 1940 in the bay of Pria Laot near Sabang, Pulau Weh, to keep her from Dutch forces.

How deep is the Sophie Rickmers?

The wheelhouse tops out at about 37 metres, the decks are around 45 metres and the bow lies below 55 metres. Every dive on it involves decompression.

Who can dive the Sophie Rickmers?

Only experienced divers. Shops on Pulau Weh ask for an advanced certification and plenty of logged dives, and many treat it as a technical dive.

Which dive shops dive the Sophie Rickmers?

Several Pulau Weh dive centres offer dives on the wreck, often as a separate trip with its own fee. Check the shops linked on this page.

When is the best time to dive the Sophie Rickmers?

Pulau Weh is dived all year. October to April brings the calmest seas and the best visibility.

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Dive shops that go to Sophie Rickmers Wreck

3 shops in the directory run trips here.

Dive sites near Sophie Rickmers Wreck

All dive sites in Pulau Weh

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