How to Swim Faster in Subnautica 2

When you first start out in Subnautica 2, your swimming speed is quite slow. It makes exploring the world a bit of a grind, and trying to escape from hostile creatures or reaching the surface when you're running low on oxygen a real struggle. The good news is that it won't be like this forever, as there are some upgrades and items you can make to improve your swim speed. Even better news is that these can be unlocked early on in your adventure. Here's how to swim faster in Subnautica 2 early on in the game.

You can find additional navigation and exploration help in our Subnautica 2 exploration guides.

Players exploring a colorful underwater biome together in Subnautica 2 co-op multiplayer

Subnautica 2 Buyer’s Guide for Early Access

Subnautica 2 launches in early access on May 14 with co-op multiplayer, Game Pass support, leviathans, vehicles, and years of planned updates.

Posts

By William Parks

Swimming Faster in Subnautica 2

You can swim faster by crafting the Basic Fins, and can get active and passive speed boosts through the Dash and Sea Skimmer biomods. I'll explain each of these options, including their limitations and how to get them below.

Basic Fins to Increase Swim Speed

The Basic Fins can be crafted at a Fabricator for two Rubber and two Fiber.

Fiber is crafted at your Fabricator by inserting two Fibrous Pulps, which can be obtained by using your Survival Multitool to cut at the plant that spawns the orange orbs in the center of it.
Rubber is crafted at your Fabricator by inserting two Lucifer Rotsacs. These are the orange orbs in the middle of plants that you can gather with your hands.

The Basic Fins give you an overall improvement in your swimming speed, but these on their own aren't always enough to help you escape hostile creatures. They do make exploring the world a little bit frustrating, however, so they're well worth purchasing as soon as possible.

Dash and Sea Skimmer Biomods

You can unlock the Biomods tutorial by heading to the Welcome Center underwater facility 87m southeast of the Lifepod that you start from, and heading 7m underwater.

After turning the power on here, you'll be able to interact with the Bio Lab, which allows you to equip active and passive biomods. Two of the four you can immediately equip are the Dash active biomod and Sea Skimmer passive biomod.

The Dash biomod allows you to quickly swim in any direction to avoid predators or hazards by pressing in the left analog stick (L3). After using the dash, you'll need to wait a few seconds until you can use it again. This is a very useful biomod to have equipped, as the burst of speed it grants can be enough to help you reach the water's surface if you're running out of oxygen, or to escape hostile creatures.

You can also equip the Sea Skimmer passive biomod. This allows you to swim faster when close to underwater surfaces or the seafloor. While these limitations mean it's not suitable for all situations where a boost of speed would be useful, it is generally useful for exploring the world a bit faster.

There may be other methods to help you swim faster that are available later in the game. However, these are the best options to help you get around the world a bit quicker in the opening hours of Subnautica 2.