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Metro 2039Coral Gardens
Coral Gardens and North Coral Gardens are Unknown Worlds' names for Subnautica 2's early coral areas around the Lifepod; update 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026) put a second Biolab and more Silver there, and 1.2 gave North Coral Gardens its own music.
Coral Gardens is the name Unknown Worlds uses in its patch notes for Subnautica 2's early coral areas around the Lifepod, with North Coral Gardens as a separate area beyond it; since update 1.1 Adaptive Measures (Jul 8, 2026) it holds one of the game's three Biolabs and more Silver than at launch (Unknown Worlds). Unknown Worlds has published no map, so where its Coral Gardens begins and ends is not stated. Guides use the name more widely: for All Things How, "Coral Gardens" is the whole starting region, covering the Shallows, Plateaus, Dolerite Spires, Necrolei Hills, Anemone Hills, the Lead Zone, the Graveyard and the Tufa Zone (May 20, 2026).
Quick facts
| Name | Official: "Coral Gardens" and "North Coral Gardens" in the 1.1 and 1.2 notes |
| Where | Around the Lifepod; the exact area is not published |
| Biolab | One, added in 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026) |
| Resources | Silver (more since Hotfix 2 and 1.1), Quartz, Titanium, Copper |
| Music | North Coral Gardens since 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026) |
| Bloom | A Bloom encounter, rebalanced in 1.1 |
What do patch notes say about Coral Gardens?
Every official fact about the area comes from four lines of patch notes:
- Hotfix 2 (May 22, 2026): "Added more Silver resource areas in early game region" (Unknown Worlds).
- 1.1 Adaptive Measures (Jul 8, 2026): "Added two more Biolabs, one in Coral Gardens and one in Axum Ruins"; "Applied additional Silver updates in Coral Gardens"; a Silver hint line when near Silver areas; and "Balanced the Bloom encounter in Coral Gardens and Ruins areas to better align with game progression" (Unknown Worlds).
- 1.2 Buddy System (Aug 19, 2026): "Music added to Tufa Zone, Thermal Area, and North Coral Gardens" (Unknown Worlds).
The Coral Gardens Biolab
At launch the only Biolab you could use was the one in the Welcome Center in the Shallows, and Biolabs offered four Biomods to unlock. 1.1 added Biolabs in Coral Gardens and the Axum Ruins (Observatory Island), raising the Biomods unlockable from Biolabs from four to six, and let you open extra passive Biomod slots by scanning creatures with the Bioscanner, to "give players more opportunities to discover and use the Biomod system" early on (Unknown Worlds). Its exact position is not in the notes, and the guides that map the area were written before 1.1. See Biomods.
Aci's Jul 8, 2026 video on update 1.1 visits both new Biolabs in play and shows the extra passive Biomod slots opening as you scan fauna, all six at 10, 20, 40 and 80 scans, but gives no position for the Coral Gardens one either.
Silver in Coral Gardens
Silver was the resource new players struggled with most at launch: Game Rant's launch guide found it in caves about 290 to 350 m north of the Lifepod at about 35 m. Unknown Worlds added Silver areas in Hotfix 2 and again in Coral Gardens in 1.1, with a voice line that hints when you are near some (1.1). The new spots are not listed in the notes. The caves under the Plateaus remain the reliable source in guides.
Kysen's May 14, 2026 guide, on the launch build, shows an early Silver spot by the first Angel Comb: from the Comb next to Anita's blackbox, swim on a bearing of 300 to a ridge with a glowing green plant on top and a blue torch, then down into the greenish area beneath, where small Silver deposits break with the Survival Multitool. With that Silver his Standard Air Tank raised his air from 45 to 75 seconds.
How guides' names map onto it
Guides written on the launch build do not use "North Coral Gardens" at all, and none of the sources read here draws a line between Coral Gardens and the Shallows. Beebom calls the landing biome the Shallows and lists no Coral Gardens biome (May 19, 2026); All Things How uses Coral Gardens for the region. The most likely reading is that Unknown Worlds' Coral Gardens is the coral reef area around the Lifepod that guides split into the Shallows and its neighbors, but that is not confirmed. The Map and Biomes page lists both sets of names.
Creators use the name loosely too: Kingfisher's Jun 19, 2026 creature guide finds Hammerheads "patrolling the outskirts of the coral gardens", sparring with one another.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Coral Gardens in Subnautica 2? Around the Lifepod, in the starting area; Unknown Worlds names it in patch notes but publishes no map, and guides use "Coral Gardens" for the whole starting region.
Is there a Biolab in Coral Gardens in Subnautica 2? Yes. Update 1.1 Adaptive Measures (Jul 8, 2026) added one there and another in the Axum Ruins, bringing the Biomods you can unlock at Biolabs from four to six.
What is North Coral Gardens in Subnautica 2? An area Unknown Worlds names in its 1.2 notes, which gave it music on Aug 19, 2026; the notes do not say where it lies, beyond the name.
Sources
- Subnautica 2 Early Access Hotfix 2, Unknown Worlds, May 22, 2026
- Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.1 - Adaptive Measures Update, Unknown Worlds, Jul 8, 2026
- Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update, Unknown Worlds, Aug 19, 2026
- Subnautica 2 Regions and Biomes Reference (Early Access), All Things How (Pallav Pathak), May 20, 2026
- All Subnautica 2 Biomes and Regions, Beebom (Bipradeep Biswas), May 19, 2026
- Subnautica 2 Progression Guide: What to Do First, Game Rant (William Parks), May 14, 2026
- ALL important changes in the new Subnautica 2 update! | Subnautica 2 News #1, Aci, Jul 8, 2026 (video)
- Subnautica 2 - The Ultimate Beginner Guide!, Kysen, May 14, 2026 (video)
- All 41 Creatures in Subnautica 2 EXPLAINED!, Kingfisher, Jun 19, 2026 (video)
Moments
ALL important changes in the new Subnautica 2 update! | Subnautica 2 News #1
Aci
Subnautica 2 - The Ultimate Beginner Guide!
Kysen
All 41 Creatures in Subnautica 2 EXPLAINED!
Kingfisher
Related
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Metal FarmsThe Axum Metal Farms are the far eastern edge of Subnautica 2's Early Access map, about 2,000 to 2,200 m east-northeast of the Lifepod beside the Karakorum Power Plant, the only source of Troilite and Atacamite and where you find the Axum Bacterial Culture to build a Metal Farm of your own.
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Observatory IslandObservatory Island is Subnautica 2's Axum tower rising out of the sea about 1,000 to 1,200 m east of the Lifepod, with the Alien Ruins (Unknown Worlds' Axum Ruins), the Rosetta Stone, a Biolab since 1.1 and the Axum Observatory, where the Early Access story stops.
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Root CanyonRoot Canyon is Subnautica 2's deepest explorable biome, a pitch-black canyon 365 to 750 m deep in the far east, with root-like walls, the Control Room, Tech Sites, Blight Nodes, a Cold Zone, colonist Dive Elevators and the Axum Metal Farms; the Collector Leviathan patrols its lower reaches.
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Tar CascadesThe Tar Cascades, in the area Unknown Worlds calls the Sparse Plains, are Subnautica 2's dark, tar-coated crossing about 700 m east of the Lifepod, 0 to 250 m deep, where the Collector Leviathan guards the way to the Axum ruins; cross low along the bottom in a Tadpole.
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Tufa ZoneThe Tufa Zone, which guides call Tufa Towers, is the biome of tall rock towers about 400 m south of Subnautica 2's Lifepod, home of the Great Jaw clam and its Lithium; it and the Thermal Area got their own music in update 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026).
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Base PowerSubnautica 2 bases run on Solar Panels (1 to 8 energy per second by time of day), Hydroelectric Turbines in water currents, Thermal Plants by heat vents and Bioreactors burning fuel, linked by Power Transmitters and buffered by Power Storage. Without power a base makes no oxygen.
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Best Base LocationsThe guides' best base spots in Subnautica 2 are a plateau by a water current about 200 m east of the Lifepod for free turbine power, the thermal vents about 630 m east for steady Thermal Plant power, and an outpost near the Alien Ruins about 1,150 m east for the late game.
See also
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ShallowsThe Shallows are Subnautica 2's starting biome, the bright coral reefs around the Lifepod, 3 to 224 m deep by All Things How's count, with the Welcome Center about 85 m southeast, the first Angel Comb, Quartz-filled Coral Domes and caves of Copper and Titanium below.
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PlateausThe Plateaus are Subnautica 2's rocky biome about 300 m northeast of the Lifepod, 23 to 119 m deep by All Things How's count, with Camp One, the Old Habitat and the caves that hold the early Silver; the sandy Lead Zone lies nearby.
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Dolerite SpiresThe Dolerite Spires are a maze of jagged volcanic pillars in Subnautica 2's starting region, shallow to mid depth, with Lithium and Titanium, Quaker's Meetinghouse and two Spires wrecks that All Things How lists for the High Capacity Air Tank and the Rebreather on the launch build.
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Necrolei HillsThe Necrolei Hills are Subnautica 2's infected hills about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, the main source of Necrolei Cysts for Strong Acid, with Copper, Titanium, Deepwing Egg Clumps and fauna mutated by the Bloom.
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Anemone HillsThe Anemone Hills are Subnautica 2's biome of towering pink-and-green anemones about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, 0 to 151 m deep, where the infected Heat Tolerance Angel Comb waits behind Bloom you clear with the Sonic Resonator.
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GraveyardThe Graveyard is Subnautica 2's hot, orange-watered biome, 0 to 266 m deep, that needs the Heat Tolerance Adaptation; it holds Gold, Salt, Sulfur and Lithium, the Tadpole Pens, Tailings Village, a Cicada Wreck, Nahema's Lab and hundreds of Water Slugs.