How to swim in Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing, Nintendo's latest hit game, is extremely popular. Everyone, including famous celebrities, is playing it. Part of the reason it's so popular is that it offers players a break from reality, as most games do, while mirroring reality.

I think I need to play animal crossing today so I can avoid my real life even more 💜

— bye (@smintonn) June 9, 2021

The game allows players to live life and experience things in that world that they may not be able to experience otherwise. The social simulator has been a huge hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, largely for this reason.

My Animal Crossing art studio...my goal is to make my real life one half this cute. pic.twitter.com/bLEPVWJtva

— Roseberry (@roseberrycomix) June 7, 2021

With that being said, there are tons of things players can do in Animal Crossing that mirror real life. They can buy or build houses. They can send mail to players or villagers. They can fish. They can dig and plant trees or flowers. They can even play the stock market, sort of. One other thing players can do is swim.

How to swim in Animal Crossing

One of the most fun things players can do in Animal Crossing is swim. This comes as part of its annual Summer Update. Since the update has dropped, many players are wondering how to swim in Animal Crossing. Players who have already tried it are loving the new feature.

I really love swimming in Animal Crossing 🥺 it’s so relaxing and calming, and strangely helps my anxiety pic.twitter.com/tgPlHank1t

— Fae 🏳️‍🌈 (@Faerie_Chan) July 9, 2020

But before players can swim, they'll need to purchase a wetsuit from none other than Tom Nook. There was no way this feature would come free to players in the game, not with Tom Nook running things. A wetsuit, required to enter the water, will cost players 3,000 bells. These can be purchased at Nook's Cranny.

Nook's Cranny. Image via Animal Crossing Wiki

Every day the design of the wetsuit will change, so if it's not an urgent purchase, waiting until for a good one is ideal. Once players have purchased a wetsuit, they will need to equip it to their avatar's body.

Players can then head over to the nearest ocean. Pressing A will allow players to dive into the water. After that, the same button will let players swim around. Swimming allows players to do some things they haven't been able to do yet.

Collecting new creatures in the ocean. Image via TheSixthAxis

Swimming will let players find and collect sea creatures from the ocean. These can be added to the museum or sold for bells. Pressing Y will allow players to dive into the water, and swimming over to the creature will automatically pick it up. Available sea creatures will depend on the time of day and the season they are in.