Argentine authorities have recovered the body of a 23-year-old diver who went missing during a training dive at an artificial reef off Puerto Madryn in southern Argentina.
Sofía Devries, from Villa Ballester in Buenos Aires province, went missing on 16 February 2026 while diving at the Parque Submarino Hu Shun Yu 809 in Golfo Nuevo, off the coast of Puerto Madryn.
The dive site is a former Chinese fishing vessel deliberately sunk in 2017 as an artificial reef. The wreck lies approximately 900m offshore at a depth between 30 and 34 metres, depending on tide, and is regularly used for ‘advanced’ level training dives.
According to Argentine media reports, she was part of a group of four divers, although there is no information at this time as to the specific course she was taking.
The Prefectura Naval Argentina – the Argentine Coast Guard – launched a search operation centred on the wreck site, which included coastguard vessels, smaller boats, specialist divers and aerial support.
Argentine outlets reported that approximately 60 personnel were involved in the search. Devries’ body was recovered close to the wreck on the third day of the search, at a depth of 25 metres.
The search came under criticism by Devries’ boyfriend, Leo, who complained the authorities had not acted quickly enough after Sfia had experienced a problem underwater that prevented her from ascending.
‘Unfortunately, we had an underwater accident and haven’t been able to find her since yesterday,’ he wrote on Instagram, published on local news outlet Minutouno while the search was ongoing.
‘The Coast Guard didn’t act quickly and focused on bureaucratic procedures first instead of searching immediately and accepting help from other divers at the Madryn school,” he wrote in an Instagram story.
Local media reports state that the three other divers were taken to the Andrés Ísola Hospital in Puerto Madryn for evaluation. Two reportedly underwent hyperbaric treatment, and a third remained in hospital under observation.
No official details have been released regarding their medical conditions or the reasons why two divers needed hyperbaric treatment, but local news station Rio Negro reported that the group’s instructor ‘had to be hospitalised after making multiple descents to try and locate Sofia.’
The Chubut public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the circumstances of the incident, including supervision, dive protocols and equipment. No official cause of death has been released.
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