Animal Crossing: New Horizons diving and swimming guide

Based on its sales numbers alone, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a fairly successful flagship game for Nintendo. Thanks to constant updates, bug fixes, and fun activities to participate in, the social simulation game continues to be enjoyed by gamers across the globe. One major update that was introduced added the ability for fans to swim and dive in-game.

Players and long-time fans of the Animal Crossing franchise were ecstatic as they dived underwater to find the game's numerous sea creatures and pearls. However, unless they obtained a special clothing item, it's impossible to simply jump into an ocean, lake, or pond. Equipping a wetsuit is mandatory if players wish to dip their toes in swimming and diving activities.

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How to dive and swim in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If you're excited to swim in-game, the first thing you should do is buy a wetsuit from Nook’s Cranny, which will cost 3000 Bells. A wetsuit can be purchased from the cabinet in Nook’s Cranny, where you can also buy seeds, tools, and other items.

Considering that there are many different color combinations available for the wetsuit and that the design resets daily, it's best to wait and check out all of them before spending 3000 Bells. After purchasing a wetsuit, the twins Timmy and Tommy, the managers of Nook’s Cranny, will give you a quick rundown on how to swim.

Once you're satisfied with the design of a wetsuit, feel free to head to the beach or any other body of water. You can bring up the inventory and select the wetsuit from it by clicking on the A button. The wetsuit is automatically equipped on top of your existing clothes. Hence, there's no need to manually remove your clothes before donning the wetsuit.

If you skipped the dialog with Timmy and Tommy by accident, you need not worry. To swim, you can jump off the edge or simply walk into any body of water after equipping the wetsuit. You can then press the A button to enter a lake or jump into an ocean (if you're near the edge of a rock). It should be noted that your character won't dive into beach water with a tool equipped, so you should unequip them if you want to swim.

Press A to jump off the edge (Image via Nintendo)

Once you're in the water, you can keep pressing the A button to swim continuously. If you don't press the A button, your character will float on the water's surface. In fact, you can float indefinitely and look around the horizon.

Even in this position, your character can move around, albeit very slowly. As there's no stamina meter, you can let go of the A button and keep swimming to your heart’s content.

The same rules apply to diving when it comes to wetsuits and diving into a body of water. You can press the Y button if you wish to take a dive underwater. Once submerged, you can use the joystick to move around and press A to paddle faster.

To get to the surface, you must click on the Y button again. Interestingly, there's no need or urgency to return to the surface immediately. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been designed while keeping your enjoyment in mind, which is why there's no oxygen meter to restrict underwater exploration.

Pascal provides you with DIY recipes in exchange for sea creatures (Image via Nintendo)

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Swimming and diving are not only a fun way to relax and goof around, but are also crucial to finding deep sea creatures. These critters can later be sold in Nook’s Cranny for additional income. Alternatively, these can be donated to Blathers, the curator of the museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While swimming, players may occasionally stumble upon Pascal, who gives them DIY recipes in exchange for sea creatures.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a world that's certainly ripe for exploration, with numerous deep sea creatures, fish, and even pearls to hunt for. Swimming and diving have added further depth to the already rich exploration elements of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Players can diversify their resource farming by indulging in swimming and earning in-game money at a higher rate.