Starting with the Stormblood expansion, you can now play out all of your Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas fantasies in Eorzea. Being able to dive with your mounts opens up a whole new world for your adventurer. Dammit, wait, that’s Aladdin, not The Little Mermaid. My bad. I’ll try again.
With the addition of diving in FFXIV, no one knows how far you’ll go! Nailed it.
Read on to learn when you’ll unlock diving, how to dive in FFXIV, and some underwater gems I think you should visit.
Quick Links
How To: Unlock Diving, How to Dive, Where To Go
The Diving Quest
Like I mentioned in the intro, diving was invented in patch 4.0, the Stormblood expansion. You can dive in many bodies of water in the subsequent Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions.
As you complete the Main Scenario Quests, you’ll be guided to the quest “In Soroban We Trust” in The Ruby Sea. This quest is required and cannot be done out of order. Keep following the quests in the top left corner of your screen, and you will be led here in no time. Among its rewards is the ability to dive.
On average, you can expect to hit this quest around levels 63-65 if you are mainly playing through MSQ.
Eorzeans possess a gene that confers immunity to decompression sickness. You can dive and resurface like an absolute maniac.
How to Dive
You’ve completed the quest. You’ve got your mount treading water.
Now it’s time to go, as Ariel says, into the unknown!
Choose your platform of choice below for control guidance:
If you are playing on a personal computer, apply pressure to CTRL and spacebar.
Console players of the PlayStation variety should consider the circle button.
I’m not entirely clear on what on Xbox is, but the spirits are telling me “B button,” whatever that means.
Where Your New Diving Skills Can Take You
IL Mheg
This eerie sunken church and little town has such immaculate liminal space vibes. A great place to relax, have lunch, contemplate mortality, take a nice nap. The Shadowbringer MSQ in this zone have you investigate the church.
One of the best things about the fae of the First, they can’t swim. You can get away from them. Someone should tell Urianger about this.
Tamamizu
The Kojin are buds. They’re like if the Namazu discovered whey protein. This bubble town of theirs is adorbs. The Stormblood MSQ brings you here shortly haver you unlock the ability to dive.
This is a great spot to AFK or park yourself to just chat. Ambience, little traffic, fishmen. It really brings me back to my childhood. There’s also a Custom Deliveries NPC here to help you level your crafters.
Of all the expansions, I have the least affection for Stormblood. Trash garbage. This wet hamlet is an exception.
The Lochs
The vibes here are the extreme version of those in Il Mheg. I guess I have a thing for sunken civilization—a massive, dark pit with long-lost buildings sleeping at the bottom. But enough about Ohio…
You have to brave this pit to access a specific timed mining node.
This depressing gorge and the fishermen bubble town are the only two things I enjoy about Stormblood. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but if you like Stormblood, you’re wrong. I’m kidding… Am I…? Yes… Or…? Yeah, I am.
However, if you think Hermes is a redeemable character, I need you to turn your location on. I just want to talk.
Costa
Alright, this is not technically diving; I’m in the water, ok? I needed a vacation. Costa del Sol is, without a doubt, my favorite zone in all of Final Fantasy XIV. A blend of nostalgia for retro FATE parties to get to level 50 and an affinity for the beach makes this Costa the zone with the mosta.
I’m not really an RPer by any stretch, but there’s something about floating around Costa del Sol during good weather that just hits. Once you’ve figured out how to dive in FFXIV and visited some of the actual diving locations, kick your feet up here with your ol’ pal Bananas Foster.