One of the first things most players notice in Subnautica 2 is just how slow your character feels underwater at the beginning of the game. At first, every trip away from the Lifepod can feel painfully long, especially when you are swimming back with low oxygen or trying to escape something aggressive chasing you through the water.
Exploration is a huge part of Subnautica 2, so movement speed matters a lot more than you might expect.
The good news is that you do not stay slow forever.
There are several early upgrades and Biomods that can dramatically improve your swimming speed, and most of them can be unlocked surprisingly early in your adventure if you know where to look.
Once you combine these upgrades together, moving around the world becomes much smoother, safer, and honestly a lot more fun.
How to Swim Faster in Subnautica 2
The easiest and most important early movement upgrade is the Basic Fins.
These are available very early in the game and immediately increase your overall swim speed. While they will not suddenly turn you into a super-fast underwater rocket, the difference is absolutely noticeable.
Exploration becomes less tedious, oxygen runs become safer, and hostile creatures become much easier to avoid.
Honestly, Basic Fins are one of those items that many players craft once and then never take off again.
How to Craft Basic Fins
You can craft Basic Fins at a Fabricator using:
- 2 Rubber
- 2 Fiber
The ingredients are fairly easy to gather once you know what to look for.
How to Get Fiber
Fiber is crafted using Fibrous Pulp.
To collect Fibrous Pulp, use your Survival Multitool on underwater plants that contain orange glowing orbs in their center.
Once you gather enough Fibrous Pulp, place two of them into the Fabricator to create Fiber.
These plants are fairly common in the starting biome, so you usually do not need to travel far from the Lifepod.
How to Get Rubber
Rubber is crafted from Lucifer Rotsacs.
These are the bright orange glowing orbs attached to certain underwater plants. Unlike Fibrous Pulp plants, you can collect Lucifer Rotsacs directly by hand without using tools.
After collecting two Lucifer Rotsacs, use the Fabricator to process them into Rubber.
Because the materials are easy to find, most players can craft Basic Fins very early without much trouble.
Are Basic Fins Enough?
Basic Fins definitely help, but they are not a perfect solution on their own.
You will still need to manage oxygen carefully, and larger hostile creatures can absolutely catch you if you rely only on normal swimming speed.
However, the fins make general exploration feel much smoother and less frustrating.
They are especially helpful when:
- Traveling between resource locations
- Returning to the surface for oxygen
- Escaping smaller predators
- Exploring caves
- Farming materials quickly
Even a modest movement increase makes a huge difference in a game where you spend nearly every second underwater.
Biomods and Swim Speed
Once you progress a little farther into the game, you can unlock Biomods.
These are special biological enhancements that grant passive or active abilities. Some Biomods directly improve movement and become incredibly useful throughout the game.
Two of the best early movement Biomods are:
- Dash
- Sea Skimmer
How to Unlock the Biomod System
To access Biomods, you first need to visit the Welcome Center facility.
This underwater structure is located roughly 87 meters southeast of the starting Lifepod and sits about 7 meters underwater.
Once you reach the facility, restore the power and interact with the Biolab inside.
This unlocks the Biomod system and allows you to equip active and passive abilities.
It is honestly worth visiting the Welcome Center fairly early because Biomods provide some very strong survival bonuses beyond just movement upgrades.
Dash Biomod
The Dash Biomod is one of the most useful early active abilities in the entire game.
Once equipped, it allows you to perform a quick burst of movement in any direction.
On controller, this is activated by pressing the left analog stick.
The speed boost only lasts for a short moment, but it is incredibly useful in dangerous situations.
Why Dash Is So Good
The Dash Biomod can save your life constantly during exploration.
It helps when:
- Escaping predators
- Dodging attacks
- Reaching oxygen faster
- Crossing dangerous areas
- Recovering from mistakes underwater
One of the scariest moments in Subnautica 2 is realizing you are about to run out of oxygen while still far below the surface.
That sudden burst of speed from Dash is often just enough to save you.
The ability does have a short cooldown after use, so you cannot spam it endlessly, but even with that limitation it remains one of the strongest movement tools available early on.
Sea Skimmer Biomod
The Sea Skimmer Biomod works differently because it is a passive upgrade instead of an active ability.
Rather than giving you a burst of speed, Sea Skimmer increases your movement speed whenever you are close to underwater surfaces or the seabed.
This means it is most effective while:
- Exploring caves
- Swimming near cliffs
- Gathering resources
- Moving along the ocean floor
The effect does not help much in open water far from surfaces, but during normal exploration it activates surprisingly often.
Because so much early-game movement happens near coral, rocks, caves, and the seabed, Sea Skimmer provides a very steady improvement to general mobility.
Combining Movement Upgrades
The best part is that these upgrades stack together.
Using:
- Basic Fins
- Dash Biomod
- Sea Skimmer Biomod
all at the same time makes movement dramatically faster compared to the slow default swimming speed at the start of the game.
Once you combine them, exploration becomes far less stressful and much more efficient.
You spend less time slowly drifting across the ocean and more time actually discovering new locations and resources.
Why Faster Swimming Matters So Much
In many survival games, movement speed is mostly a convenience upgrade.
In Subnautica 2, it is genuinely tied to survival.
Faster swimming directly improves:
- Oxygen management
- Resource gathering efficiency
- Exploration safety
- Escape potential
- Cave navigation
- Travel time
A small speed increase can easily mean the difference between safely reaching the surface and drowning a few meters away from air.
That is why movement upgrades are honestly some of the best early investments you can make.
Swimming slowly is part of the early survival experience in Subnautica 2, but thankfully it does not last forever.
Crafting Basic Fins early and unlocking movement Biomods like Dash and Sea Skimmer makes an enormous difference in how smooth and enjoyable exploration feels. The game becomes less stressful, dangerous situations become more manageable, and traveling across the world feels far less tedious.
And honestly, once you get used to the extra speed, it becomes almost impossible to imagine going back to the painfully slow starter swimming pace.