How to Access the Tadpole Pens in Subnautica 2

The Tadpole is one of the most important tools in the entirety of Subnautica 2. As much as this is a game about surviving, it’s also about exploration as there’s so much to see and do in this scary world. Because of this, Tadpoles make your job so much easier, being able to traverse much faster and further than you could normally do, providing a good source of oxygen where you wouldn’t normally get some.

With that said, there is one area in Subnautica 2 that’s more story related called the Tadpole Pens, and it has unfortunately been destroyed. It will be your job to get there and find out what happens, but in order to do this, you will need to find a way to access a portion of the habitat that isn’t accessible to everyone.

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By Adam Beck

What is the Tadpole Pens?

The Tadpole Pens is a location within the Graveyard biome of the map that will give you some vital information regarding what happened not only to the habitat there, but what the environment as a whole.

This is found very far in the eastern section of the Graveyard area. This is located 150 meters underwater and roughly 680 meters away from the Lifepod east northeast. Entering, you will discover a small area with a Tadpole moonpole in the back, which you can scan to obtain fragments for the little pod.

Unfortunately, the second half of the area is locked away, and it requires a keycode to access it. Unless you stumbled across this, which is somewhat unlikely given you would almost need a Tadpole to get to that location to begin with, you will need to go out in the area to find it.

It’s not located within the Tadpole Pens location itself, but thankfully it’s not across the map like other items.

Where to Find the Keycode for the Tadpole Pens

After visiting the Tadpole Pens and realizing you won’t be able to access the second half of the habitat, leave and you will likely get a notification from your AI companion to return to your Lifepod for a distress message.

This new distress message is from “Zip” which has sent out a distress beacon in the western part of the Graveyard. This is at a significantly low underwater setting, so it’s heavily advised taking a Tadpole most of the way. Otherwise, you’ll have to be constantly in search of air bubbles in the vicinity, which unfortunately are not all that plentiful.

If you’re fast enough, you can technically make it to the bottom and back to the top in time, but you’ll need to know exactly where you’re going and must haul it very quickly.

Regardless, if you pick up the Zip quest, it will essentially point you in the right direction, but if you don’t want to head back to the Lifepod to pick up the mission, especially since you’re already in the area, we’ll tell you exactly where to go.

As we said, this is very deep in a cave system, 300 meters to be exact. You’ll want to head 350 meters northeast of the Lifepod until you reach the Graveyard’s entrance, and an open section of the area. There will be several openings into the cave system below. Simply take the biggest one to get started.

Dive as far as you can until you reach a thermal vent area with a lot of volcanic activity. Before entering this area, look to the immediate to the east and you’ll spot a small opening in the wall.

Dive down here to find a portion of the Angel Comb’s purple vine. On top of the Angel Comb’s extension, you will find Zip’s distress beacon. Picking it up will immediately give you the keycode for the Tadpole Pens.