Every Subnautica 2 player should be looking for salt, but not just because it improves your food. True, salt does unlock better recipes, but it also unlocks a power storage unit for your base and it paves the way to obtaining your first submarine — pretty handy when you’re stranded on an ocean planet.
Here’s where to find salt in Subnautica 2.
[Ed. note: Before you dive in, be sure to open the character menu and enable all landmark signals. This will make it easier to spot the locations mentioned in this guide.]
Update (June 11): We’ve added a salt farming spot near the Alien Ruins.
Where to find salt in Subnautica 2
In Subnautica 2, salt spawns as a pinkish, crystal-like boulder on the seabed. It can be used to make advanced dishes, but more importantly, salt is used to craft a power storage unit for your base (allowing you to store excess power from solar panels to use during the night) and power cells. The latter is part of the tadpole crafting recipe — a mini submarine.
To find salt in Subnautica 2‘s early game, go to Chap’s Blackbox. If you’re starting from the Lifepod, you must swim 220 meters southeast, and if you’re starting from the Welcome Center, it’s 130 meters southeast. You will only find a small stack of salt here, but you won’t require a sonic resonator or the “heat tolerance” adaptation.
See the large pillar that peeps out above water? Dive down into the circular gorge surrounding this pillar. At the pillar’s foot, you will find several small pieces of salt. Use the hatch to Chap’s Blackbox to replenish your oxygen while you collect the salt. Be sure to interact with the biobed before you leave this location.
If you exit the hatch and turn around the corner to your left, you will find more salt around the cave’s exit. There also happen to be two pieces of sulfur that don’t require a heat adaptation here.
The best salt farming location in Subnautica 2
To reach the best salt farming location in Subnautica 2, you need the heat tolerance adaptation. To get it, keep following the game’s “main story” by chasing new signals and interacting with every blackbox. Once you’ve obtained a sonic resonator and used it to cure the Angel Comb (starting at the Wander Blackbox), place your hand on the pick flower to unlock heat tolerance. This is the third adaptation you’ll receive, following pressure tolerance and digestion.
So, with heat tolerance unlocked, go to Chap’s Blackbox as described above, but from there, swim toward the northeast. After about 100 meters, behind the human-made items, you can spot two large salt crystals on the seabed. Use the sonic resonator to break them and collect about five pieces of salt per deposit.
From there, continue north-northeast along the seabed to find a third salt deposit, then pivot north to the large Coral Crabs. There, turn north-northeast again to find an additional four salt deposits on the ocean floor. You should have about 35 pieces of salt once you’ve broken every salt crystal in this area.
Best late-game salt farming spot in Subnautica 2
After investigating the Tadpole Pens and crossing the ravine leading to the Alien Ruins, you might be looking for a local salt farming spot. Don’t worry, you don’t need to travel back; there’s an excellent salt farming route just north of the Alien Ruins signal (1,280 meters east of the Lifepod). Starting from the signal, go to the high rock formation in the north-northwest, where you’ll find four salt deposits at the foot of the hydrothermal vent.
If you look down toward the northwest, you’ll spot another two salt deposits on the edge of the cliff (100 meters northwest of the Alien Ruins signal). If you continue north-northeast from there, diving to a depth of 215 meters, you can spot a small chasm surrounded by short, red plants; there are three more salt deposits inside this cave. The last location is exactly 200 meters north of the Alien Ruins signal.
Salt deposits don’t respawn, but once you’ve collected some atacamite, troilite, and axum bacterial cultures, you can craft a metal farm to produce unlimited salt at your base.
If you’re starting out in Subnautica 2, we have a plethora of guides to help you navigate the deep blue sea. Our Subnautica 2 beginner’s guide will set you off in the right direction and our base building tips will assist in planning out your sprawling base. Don’t forget to stock up on food and water, too.
If you need help finding materials, we explain how to get the sonic resonator, which you’ll want to mine tons of materials. We have guides on where to find these resources, like lead, sulfur, copper, quartz, and gold.
