Subnautica: How to Get All 17 Achievements in Subnautica

Subnautica is an open-world survival game where the player must strategize, explore, and endure the depths of the mysterious ocean planet 4546B. I’m willing to argue that this is a horror game and if you’ve already completed a decent chunk of the game, I’ll bet you agree! Obtaining all the achievements can prove challenging, especially since all 17 achievements are hidden.

This guide will show you how to unlock every achievement in the game. I recommend completing the game before going back to snag every achievement, so you can immerse yourself in the storyline without worrying about side quests. This guide will describe each achievement and walk you through all of them.

The achievements below are ordered (from highest to lowest) by the % of people who achieved it on Steam (as of this writing.)

This is the first achievement you’ll get in Subnautica. You’ll quickly notice that some achievements are easier than others. This is a good example of this:

Literally just enter the water and you’ll earn this achievement.

That’s it! Now on to the next one!

Build a habitat.

To build a habitat, you’ll need the habitat builder. Unlike other tools in the game where you have to locate fragments, there are no habitat builder fragments. You can build this tool from the get go.

Make the habitat builder with the fabricator:
Personal > Tools

When building your base, there are definitely some places that are better to build than others. It’s important to build in a place that feels convenient for you as you’ll be going back and forth to your base often. That said, you can always rebuild (and you probably will), so don’t worry too much about messing this up.

Build the Seamoth.

In order to build the Seamoth, you’ll first need to collect all the fragments for the mobile vehicle bay and build it. You can find the mobile vehicle bay fragments in crates in the kelp forest biome. Then you’ll need 1 Titanium Ingot, 1 Lubricant, and 1 Power Cell to create it using the fabricator.

Deploy the the mobile vehicle bay and then get ready to collect seamoth fragments. These fragments can be found in the Grassy Plateaus biome. You’ll need 1 titanium ingot, 1 power cell, 1 glass, 1 lubricant, and 1 lead to build the seamoth. Keep an eye out for materials while looking for Seamoth fragments.

Find the enforcement platform.

Quarantine Enforcement Platform Coordinates:
375, 8, 1106

I recommend approaching the island from the south and hugging the shore until you’re north of the platform. Park your seamoth close to shore (but not so close that it gets stuck in the sand.) Otherwise, some pretty nasty beasts circling the island might attack.

Walk to the platform and unlock this achievement.

I recommend staying out of the caves unless you have health packs and a propulsion cannon (my favorite way to get rid of cave crawlers.)

Cave crawlers are nasty pests that you can find in a number of land-based places such as within the Aurora and on the Mountain Island.

You’ll need to go to the southern island (coordinates:-789, 0, -946) and find the Degasi habitat (there are three of them, so take your time.)

Snag all PDAs on the island (there are six) and you’ll have this achievement in the bag.

To get this achievement, you need to fix the drive core breaches in the Aurora.

See the video tutorial below showing both how to navigate the Aurora and how to fix the drive core breaches (at timestamp 14:30.)

Building the Cyclops will trigger this achievement. The blueprints for the Cyclops can be tricky to find since there are so many, so I created a chart. You’ll need to scan three of each type of blueprint and there are three types so you’ll need to scan 9 components before you’re able to put this monstrosity together.

In order to get this achievement, you’ll need to build the prawn suit. All prawn suit fragments can be found in the Aurora (see the video guide above.)

The prawn suit is handy for going depths that your Seamoth can’t handle and for drilling mineral veins.

The Degasi storyline is pretty cool and it takes you to some really interesting places (they really got the short end of the stick.) If you’re not reading their notes, you’re missing out!

To get this achievement, you’ll have to find the PDA title “Bart Torgal’s Log #2 – Stalker Teeth.”

I have a video guide titled, “Where to Find Magnetite” which will take you to the base where Bart Torgal’s log can be found. See the video below. While the video is about finding Magnetite, it takes you to the location where Bart Torgal’s Log #2 can be found.

This achievement will take you to my favorite place in the whole game and it’s creepy to boot! Picking up the PDA in the Degasi deep grand reef base will trigger this. You can find it on the second floor of the base, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.

There are dangerous creatures lurking and limited oxygen. Plan out your run before you find yourself poisoned with less than 10 seconds of oxygen left. As with some of the other achievements, I have a video on this which you can check out below.

I started playing Subnautica sometime during early release and I feel like the entrance to the Lost River is more obvious now than before. That said, if you’re not big on exploring or not interested in exploring areas with entrances to the Lost River, you might have missed it.

There are four entrances to the Lost River. To trigger the achievement, make your way in through one of these entrances and enter the disease research facility located at -252, -814, 316.

To trigger this achievement, you’ll need to find and enter the Thermal Plant in the Lost River. Once you’re in the Lost River, you can follow these coordinates to locate the Thermal Plant: -75, -1182, 5.

You might be noticing a trend: enter research facilities in the Lost River. This achievement follows this pattern.

To trigger this achievement, you’ll need to enter the Primary Containment Facility. You can get inside at one of the two entrances, one at -300, -1270, -150 and the other at 90, -1240, 360.

You’ll need to hatch and release a cuddlefish (yes, that’s spelled correctly) in order to get this achievement.

You can drop cuddle fish eggs in your alien containment and hatch them. Release one and the achievement is yours.

Finding cuddlefish eggs can be tricky, but I’ve created a video that shows where to find all five. If you’re just looking to obtain the achievement and not interested in collecting all five, I recommend grabbing one in the mushroom forest so you can avoid reapers.

Where to find a cuddlefish egg:

If you considered the primary goal in the game to be escaping the planet, that’s cool and all, but don’t forget that you’re infected with the Kharaa bacteria. Two days off work and an Amoxicillin script aren’t going to settle the score, not that your debt to Alterra would ever make you comfortable enough to afford medication.

Finding a cure will save your life, save Planet 4546B (if you care), and earn you this achievement. In order to do this, you’ll need to head down to the primary containment facility and chat with the Sea Emperor Leviathan and hatch her babies. The babies produce a rare protein that keeps Kharaa at bay (also you’ll never look at the Peeper the same way!)

For this achievement, you’ll have to fabricate, fill, and deploy a time capsule. You can put a photo in there, some meaningful items (or random crap), and a short message. Once you fill that baby up, drop it off somewhere and the achievement is all yours!

In order to get this achievement, you need to leave the planet (and dying doesn’t count.)

You’ll need to find the blueprint for the Neptune Escape Rocket (you can find this in the Captain’s Quarters in the Aurora), build it, and launch it. It’s easy enough to build as I think I first had this bad boy up and running well before I ever reached the primary containment facility.

Unfortunately, you can’t actually leave the planet (or get this achievement) until you’ve disabled the Quarantine Enforcement Platform. You can disable the Quarantine Enforcement Platform once you’ve cured the planet of the bacteria and finally, you’re able to get off planet.