Biomes

This article is about the Biomes in Subnautica. To see this subject's article on the Below Zero Wiki, click here.

Read at own risk This article contains unmarked spoilers. Players new to the game would want to avoid or be cautious toward this article.

Subnautica features a wide range of Biomes to explore and exploit. They all represent miniature ecosystems from the real world.

There is a huge variety of Biomes, from the vibrant Kelp Forest to the sizzling depths of the enigmatic Lava Lakes. Each Biome contains its own set of Flora and Fauna to discover and resources to harvest.

Biomes

Surface Biomes

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Blood Kelp Zone	150 - 675 meters (Trench) 200 - 580 meters (Northern)	Shale Outcrop	Destroyed Lifepod (Northern) Blood Kelp Sanctuary (Northern) Large Wreck (Trench)
Bulb Zone	140 - 480 meters	Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Bulb Zone Arch Cache Destroyed Lifepod Large Wrecks (2) Lava Geysers (3)
Crag Field	125 - 460 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Crag Field Arch Cache Destroyed Lifepod
Crash Zone	0 - 370 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Aurora Destroyed Lifepod
Crater Edge	0 - 8000 meters	N/A	N/A
Dunes	65 - 400 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Alien Vent Entrance Point Dunes Sanctuary Giant Sinkhole Large Wrecks (3) Meteor Crater Thermal Vents (9)
Grand Reef	150 - 480 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Alien Vent Entrance Point Large Wrecks (2) Thermal Vents (5)
Grassy Plateaus	50 - 170 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Destroyed Lifepods (2) Large Wrecks (5) Small Wrecks (6)
Kelp Forest	0 - 160 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Destroyed Lifepod Large Wrecks (2)
Mountains	0 - 500 meters	Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Alien Arch Platform Alien Vent Entrance Point Large Wrecks (2) Thermal Vents (10)
Mushroom Forest	75 - 250 meters (Northwestern) 125 - 200 meters (Northeastern)	Limestone Outcrop Purple Pinecone Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Alien Vent Entrance Point (Northeastern) Destroyed Lifepod (Northwestern) Large Wreck (Northwestern) Mushroom Forest Arch Cache (Northwestern)
Safe Shallows	0 - 80 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Large Wrecks (2) Lava Geysers (2) Lifepod 5 Small Wrecks (7)
Sea Treader's Path	170 - 360 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Large Wreck
Sparse Reef	40 - 310 meters	Limestone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Alien Vent Entrance Point
Underwater Islands	35 - 500 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Alien Vent Entrance Point Large Wreck Lava Geysers (8) Thermal Vents (1)

Islands

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Floating Island	Above sea level	N/A	Degasi Seabases (3) Floating Island Arch Cache
Mountain Island	Above sea level	Shale Outcrop	Mountain Island Arch Cache Quarantine Enforcement Platform

Cave Biomes

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Blood Kelp Caves	285 - 675 meters	Shale Outcrop	N/A
Bone Fields Caves	610 - 710 meters	N/A	N/A
Bulb Zone Caves	220 - 315 meters	Shale Outcrop	Lava Geyser
Deep Grand Reef	425 - 630 meters	N/A	Degasi Seabase
Deep Sparse Reef	210 - 290 meters	Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Destroyed Lifepod Sparse Reef Sanctuary
Dunes Caves	400 - 420 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	N/A
Grand Reef Caves	120 - 410 meters	Shale Outcrop	N/A
Grassy Plateaus Caves	120 - 175 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	N/A
Inactive Lava Zone	900 - 1300 meters	Shale Outcrop	Alien Thermal Plant Lava Castle
Jellyshroom Cave	180 - 300 meters	Shale Outcrop	Degasi Seabase
Kelp Forest Caves	90 - 170 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	N/A
Lava Lakes	1300 - 1500 meters	N/A	Primary Containment Facility
Lost River	550 - 1000 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Disease Research Facility Gargantuan Fossil Ghost Forest Arch Cache Lost River Laboratory
Mountains Caves	0 - 380 meters	Shale Outcrop	Thermal Vents (2)
Mushroom Forest Caves	170 - 250 meters	Shale Outcrop	N/A
Safe Shallows Caves	10 - 75 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	N/A
Sea Treader's Tunnel Caves	200 - 340 meters	Limestone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	N/A
Underwater Islands Caves	205 - 255 meters	Shale Outcrop	N/A

Mini-Biomes

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Crash Zone Mesas	150 - 330 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	N/A
Lava Geyser	60 - 560 meters	Varies	N/A
Lava Castle	1100 - 1300 meters	N/A	Alien Thermal Plant
Inactive Lava Zone Corridor	800 - 1200 meters	Shale Outcrop	N/A

Gallery

Early development biomes reference sheet

The Lost River's early map

(Outdated) Latest Subnautica map (17/12/2016)

(Outdated) Latest clean Subnautica map (17/12/2016)

(Outdated) Latest clean Subnautica map (25/02/2017)

(Outdated) Latest clean Subnautica Map (19/05/2017)

Latest clean Subnautica Map (28/10/2017)

(Outdated) Latest Subnautica map with ILZ - made by pie1055

Add a photo to this gallery

Trivia

• Early development footages of biome generation can be seen on a playlist from Russel Maekim's YouTube channel.
• The game considers the inside of an Observatory, Lifepod, Scanner Room, Alien Containment, and inside the aquarium in the Primary Containment Facility to be completely separate biomes.
• Early surface biome concepts were divided into Kelp Forest, Dense Kelp Forest, Sunny Kelp Forest, Coral Reef, Danger Reef, Safe Shallows, Grand Reefs, and Floating Islands.
• Early lava zone biome concepts were divided into Lava Zone, Lava Bridges, Inactive Lava Zones, and Thermal Vents.
• The Lava Lakes and the Crater Edge are the only biomes that do not contain any Flora.