The Kelp Forest is the launch-build tutorial biome of Subnautica 2 and the area in which the player begins surface-level open-world exploration after the opening sequence. It surrounds the CICADA Lifepod and forms the player's default early-game working radius for resource gathering, scanning, and first Adaptation work.
Location And Role
Geographically, the Kelp Forest sits in the shallow band of the moon's ocean around the Lifepod splashdown point. It is the surface-emergence zone the player reaches after being propelled out of the colony hab; what earlier wiki authoring framed as a separate "Start Zone" is the Kelp Forest entry pocket, not a distinct biome. The biome's role at launch is twofold: it serves as the tutorialised resource and scanning area, and it provides a low-pressure corridor that the player returns to from every deeper expedition to top off oxygen, hunger, and thirst against survival mechanics.
Environment
Alien kelp-like flora, tall and bioluminescent at the canopy. Density varies across the biome, with thicker stands toward the centre and thinner patches near the boundary.
Shallow to mid-depth water, lit by surface light filtering through the canopy. Visibility is good compared with deeper biomes.
- Light non-aggressive fauna at the entry pockets; transitions toward more aggressive fauna at the boundary with Coral Gardens and the deeper biomes.
Resource availability: the most abundant early-game pickups, including the basic crafting materials needed to bootstrap a Fabricator and a Scanner.
Player Activities At Launch
Activity | Where In The Biome | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Surface-emergence tutorial after the opening sequence | Entry pocket near the Lifepod splashdown. | Pioneer character spawns here after the opening sequence; first surface breath and initial bearings. |
Early resource gathering | Throughout the biome. | Bootstraps the Fabricator and Scanner progressions. |
First fauna scans | Various depths. | Drives the early entries of the PDA Data Bank. |
Cooking pickups | Surface to mid-depth. | Geordies, Halfmoons, and Harvestmoons appear here; cooked at the Fabricator once the Digestion Adaptation is unlocked. |
Return-to-base loop | Anywhere near the Lifepod. | Used between deeper-biome expeditions for survival-stat resets. |
Boundaries And Onward Routing
The Kelp Forest does not extend to depth. The player descends out of the biome to reach the Coral Gardens transition band, with the Sparse Plains and the Overgrown Ruins beyond. The biome's outer edge in surface directions opens onto the Void beyond the map boundary; this is rarely the player's intended path, but is reachable.
Status In The Live Build
The Kelp Forest is confirmed in the Early Access launch build as the player's surface-emergence and tutorial biome. The earlier "Start Zone" framing on this wiki has been folded into this article; the Start Zone page is retained as a pointer to here for any external links that still reference the older name. Specific creature spawns, resource densities, and weather patterns in the Kelp Forest may shift as Early Access updates land; the role of the biome as the player's starting working radius is settled.
See Also
- The full Biomes overview.
- The Opening Sequence that precedes arrival in the Kelp Forest.
- The Coral Gardens biome beyond the Kelp Forest boundary.