The Diving Gear
There are four pieces of scuba equipment, each with a distinct function:
- Diving Tank: lets you breathe underwater for about 10 minutes; refillable. The single must-have for any real dive.
- Diving Fins (flippers): much faster swimming and less oxygen drain while moving -- but slower on land. Without them, underwater movement is slow and exhausting.
- Diving Wetsuit: thermal protection. The deep sea is dangerously cold and will slowly freeze you without one.
- Diving Mask/Goggles: greatly improved underwater vision. You can dive without it, but you'll barely see.
None of these can be crafted -- you buy or loot them.
Getting the Gear
Buy diving gear from vendors, or find it as loot:
- At a Fishing Village, the Stuff vendor sells a full diving set for 95 scrap. Individually, a wetsuit is about 20 scrap and the mask, fins, and tank are about 25 scrap each.
- A full suit of diving gear can also drop from crates around the island, so you may assemble a set for free over a wipe.
- The bare minimum to reach shark-depth dive sites is an oxygen Tank; add the wetsuit and fins for longer, safer dives.
A boat makes diving far more efficient -- a small Motorboat costs around 125 scrap at a Fishing Village and lets you hop between dive sites quickly.
Dive Sites & Looting Crates
Dive sites dot the ocean floor: rock formations with respawning loot and temporary sunken ships. You'll find Sunken Chests and Sunken Boxes around them.
The key mechanic: each underwater crate is TIED DOWN. Press and hold E on it for several seconds to free it, then it floats and you retrieve the contents at the surface. Freeing a crate takes time, during which you're vulnerable -- a boat and/or a second player speeds it up and watches your back.
If you have a duo Submarine, its sonar display reveals ocean-floor crates and structures, saving a lot of search time before you ever get wet.
Oxygen Management
Air is your hard limit:
- A full Diving Tank lasts roughly 10 minutes. Oxygen drains at a constant rate regardless of depth, but fast swimming drains it faster than slow swimming -- pace yourself.
- Start ascending when you hit about 150 seconds of air left. Never gamble on making it back on fumes; drowning loses your whole kit.
- Underwater Labs contain air pockets where you can surface and breathe -- and these restore your tank to full. Plan longer dives to pass through a lab or air pocket to refill.
Fins reduce both travel time and oxygen spent moving, which is why they're worth the extra slot even though they slow you on land.
Sharks & Safety
Sharks patrol dive sites and are a genuine threat -- multiple can lurk in the seagrass on the ocean floor, and untying a crate leaves you exposed for several seconds.
- Bring a weapon. A Speargun is purpose-built for underwater fights; otherwise carry your preferred weapon and some medical supplies.
- Arrive cautiously -- scan the seabed for sharks before committing to a crate.
- A teammate to guard you while you untie crates is the safest setup; solo, pick quieter sites.
Pre-dive checklist: tank, mask, fins, wetsuit, a weapon, medical supplies, and a boat positioned for a quick exit. Know your target sites and keep an above-water reference point so you can navigate back. Diving is lower-competition than monuments, but the sharks, the cold, and the air limit all punish the unprepared.