Biomes (Subnautica)

Subnautica features a wide range of biomes to explore and coexist with, representing miniature ecosystems.

Biomes

Surface Biomes

• Blood Kelp Zone (150m - 675m)
• Crash Zone (0m - 300m)
• Dunes (65m - 400m)
• Floating Island (Surface)
• Grand Reef (180m - 450m)
• Grassy Plateaus (50m - 170m)
• Kelp Forest (1m - 160m)
• Koosh Zone (140m - 480m)
• Mountain Island (Surface)
• Mountains (0m - 500m)
• Mushroom Forest (75m - 250m)
• Safe Shallows (1m - 80m)
• Sea Treader's Path (170m - 360m)
• Sparse Reef (40m - 310m)
• Underwater Islands (35m - 500m)

Cave Biomes

• Blood Kelp Caves (430m - 675m)
• Deep Grand Reef (425m - 600m)
• Grassy Plateaus Caves (120m - 175m)
• Jelly Shroom Caves (180m - 300m)
• Kelp Forest Caves (90m - 170m)
• Koosh Zone Caves (220m - 315m)
• Mountain Range Caves (0m - 380m)
• Mushroom Forest Caves (170m - 250m)
• Safe Shallows Caves (10m - 75m)
• Sea Treader's Tunnel Caves (200m - 340m)

Mini-Biomes

• Lava Geyser (variable depth)

In-development Biomes

• Active Lava Zone (1300m - 1700m)
• Inactive Lava Zone (600m - 1500m)
• Lilypad Islands
• Lost River (700m - 1000m)
• Twisty Bridges
• Lava Castle (1100m - 1300m)

Possible Biomes

• Arctic

Gallery

• 

  Arctic biome's reference sheet, made by the developers

• 

  Early development biome's reference sheet

• 

  Lost River's early map

• 

  Latest Subnautica map

• 

  Ditto, with more details

Trivia

• Developers' footages of biome generation can be seen on a playlist from Russel Maekim's Youtube channel. He also sometimes livestreams his work on Twitch.

• The game considers the inside of an Observatory, Lifepod, and Scanner Room to be separate biomes. This is also true for the Aurora and for some of the large wrecks in the Koosh Zone and Grassy Plateaus (respectively labelled crashedShip and wreck).
• Early biome-concepts included Crystal and Arctic biomes. Considering the Arctic has since gained a development work-sheet, it might be added in future updates after the release of the official game.
• 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. Four of these have since been fully developped/implemented (the Safe Shallows, the Kelp Forest, Floating Island, Grand Reef and the Deep Grand Reef).
• Early lavazone biome concepts were divided into Lava Zone, Lava Bridges, Inactive Lava Zones and Thermal Vents. These were all implemented in some form, though the thermal vents have been reduced to geological features rather than a full biome.
• The game is updated so often the map layout changes so the newest map is not completely accurate.