Biomes (Subnautica)

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 coexist with, which represent miniature ecosystems from the real world.

There is a very diverse range 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	Large Wreck (1) (Trench) Destroyed Lifepod (1) (Northern) Blood Kelp Sanctuary (Northern)
Bulb Zone	140 - 480 meters	Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Large Wreck (2) Destroyed Lifepod (1) Lava Geysers (3) Bulb Zone Arch Cache (1)
Crag Field	125 - 460 meters	Shale Outcrop Limestone Outcrop	Crag Field Arch Cache (1) Destroyed Lifepod
Crash Zone	0 - 370 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Aurora Destroyed Lifepod (1)
Dead Zone	0 - 3000 meters	None	None
Dunes	65 - 400 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Large Wreck (1) Meteor Crater Giant Sinkhole Dunes Sanctuary (1) Alien Vent Entrance Point
Grand Reef	150 - 480 meters	Shale Outcrop	Large Wrecks (2) Thermal Vents (5) Alien Vent Entrance Point
Grassy Plateaus	50 - 170 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Large Wrecks (5) Small Wrecks (6) Destroyed Lifepods (2)
Kelp Forest	0 - 160 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Large Wrecks (4) Destroyed Lifepod (1)
Mountains	0 - 500 meters	Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Large Wreck (1) Thermal Vents (10) Alien Arch Platform (1) Alien Vent Entrance Point
Mushroom Forest	75 - 250 meters (Northwestern) 125 - 200 meters (Northeastern)	Limestone Outcrop Purple Pinecone Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Large Wreck (1) Destroyed Lifepod (1) Mushroom Forest Arch Cache (Northwestern) Alien Vent Entrance Point (Northeastern)
Safe Shallows	0 - 80 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Large Wrecks (2) Small Wrecks (7) Lava Geysers (2) Destroyed Lifepod (1)
Sea Treader's Path	170 - 360 meters	Shale Outcrop	Large Wreck (1)
Sparse Reef	40 - 310 meters	Limestone Outcrop	Alien Vent Entrance Point
Underwater Islands	35 - 500 meters	Shale Outcrop Limestone Outcrop	Large Wreck (1) Lava Geysers (8) Alien Vent Entrance Point

Islands

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Floating Island	Above sea level	-	Degasi Seabases (3) Floating Island Arch Cache (1)
Mountain Island	Above sea level	Shale Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	Quarantine Enforcement Platform Mountain Island Arch Cache (1)

Cave Biomes

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Blood Kelp Caves	430 - 675 meters	Shale Outcrop	-
Bone Fields Caves	610 - 710 meters	-	-
Bulb Zone Caves	220 - 315 meters	Shale Outcrop	Lava Geyser (1)
Deep Grand Reef	425 - 630 meters	Purple Pinecone Shale Outcrop	Degasi Seabase (1)
Deep Sparse Reef	210 - 290 meters	Limestone Outcrop	Sparse Reef Sanctuary Destroyed Lifepod (1)
Dunes Caves	400 - 420 meters	Sandstone Outcrop	-
Grand Reef Caves	350 - 410 meters	Limestone Outcrop	-
Grassy Plateaus Caves	120 - 175 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	-
Inactive Lava Zone	900 - 1300 meters	Obsidian Outcrop	Lava Castle Alien Thermal Plant
Jellyshroom Cave	180 - 300 meters	Sandstone Outcrop Shale Outcrop	Degasi Seabase (1)
Kelp Forest Caves	90 - 170 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	-
Lava Lakes	1300 - 1700 meters	Obsidian Outcrop	Primary Containment Facility
Lost River	550 - 1000 meters	-	Disease Research Facility Gargantuan Skeleton Lost River Laboratory (1) Ghost Forest Arch Cache (1)
Mountain Range Caves	0 - 380 meters	Shale Outcrop	Thermal Vents (?)
Mushroom Forest Caves	170 - 250 meters	Shale Outcrop	-
Safe Shallows Caves	10 - 75 meters	Limestone Outcrop Sandstone Outcrop	-
Sea Treader's Tunnel Caves	200 - 340 meters	Shale Outcrop	-
Underwater Islands Caves	205 - 255 meters	Shale Outcrop Limestone Outcrop	-

Mini-Biomes

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

Possible Expansion Pack Biomes

Biome	Depth Range	Harvesting Nodes	Points of Interest
Arctic Biome	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Lilypad Islands	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Twisty Bridges	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Gallery

• 

  Arctic biome's reference sheet, made by the developers

• 

  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 (19/07/2017)

• 

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

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, and Scanner Room to be 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 Island.
• Early lava zone biome concepts were divided into Lava Zone, Lava Bridges, Inactive Lava Zones and Thermal Vents.