Traces of the Sea People is the first chapter in Dave the Diver. It’s the first time you’ll get to explore the Giant Blue Hole even more, and you will also pick up new tasks along the way. The prologue was just a warm-up for what’s to come. We are here to provide a full walkthrough and guide throughout this entire chapter.
It’s also worth noting that our walkthrough of Dave the Diver was done on Nintendo Switch 2.
Chapter 1 – Traces of the Sea People Guide
At the start of Traces of the Sea People, Dr. Bacon will tell you about a Village where the Sea People had lived. Your goal is to reach this area. To reach this area, you will need to be able to last at least 70m deep into the Blue Hole.
It’s recommended to have at least a Level 3 Air Tank and a Level 3 Diving Suit in Chapter 1 because you’ll eventually have to dive further as you get closer to the end.
Tracking The Sea People
Find Sea People Artifact
As you should know with Dave the Diver, every time you go into the water, the layouts will change. In the first part of the mission, you’ll need to go 70m into the depths to find the “Sea People Artifact. Along the way, you’ll probably find many different items and fish to catch. To reach your objective, just keep swimming down and to the right. You will even see O2 to restore your tank.
You’ll know when you are near the artifact when you see a yellow icon above it. Use the action button to take the artifact, then Dr. Bacon will tell you to return to the Boat.
After Dr Bacon talks to you, the screen will start shaking, and you’ll see the Giant Squid pop into the middle of the screen. When you return to the Boat, Dr. Bacon and Cobra will talk to you. The Rewards from doing this first objective in Chapter 1 include 300 Gold, x5 Olive Oil, and x5 Turmeric.
Return to Bancho Sushi, and you’ll unlock the Cooksta app, where people will share pictures of food they eat. This will help raise the popularity of the Sushi Bar. After talking to Cobra and Bancho, you can either choose to create menu options, change the interior, or return diving for your afternoon session.
When you return to dive, you’ll run into your first Dolphin mission.
A Dolphin’s Request
As you dive on Monday, 10/03, in the afternoon, a Dolphin will come to you asking for help.
Follow the Dolphin where it’ll take you to its calf caught inside a net. Swim up to the net and hold the action button to free the young pink Dolphin. Once it’s rescued, it will give you a pearl as a gift.
A Scolding from Yoshie
As you return to Bancho Sushi to do your nightly work at the Sushi Bar, you’ll receive a surprise visit from Yoshie, a well-known food critic. She’s labeled as a “Special Customer,” and if you fulfill their request, you’ll get better rewards and a better reputation.
After talking with her, you’ll want to Research the Whole-Roasted Shark Head.
In this side-mission, you’ll need to catch a Whitetip Reefshark and obtain Olive Oil.
Note: This mission can be completed later in Chapter 1 and doesn’t have to be done immediately.
How To Locate & Kill Whitetip Reefshark
The Whitetip Reefshark will likely be the first tough creature to kill on your early journey in Dave the Diver. You will need to use a gun, and if you can, an upgraded gun will do better. Be warned, this shark is aggressive and will attack you, causing you to lose a decent amount of O2. This is where having a high-level air tank comes in handy.
To locate the Whitetip Reefshark, you will need to dive a little deep, to around 40 to 50m in depth. That is how I found the Whitetip Reefshark in my playthrough. Ask Duff to craft the Basic Underwater Rifle if you haven’t already or if you found a better gun.
Where I found the Whitetip Reefshark was around 47m and more east of the initial diving location.
This shark will continue to charge at you. It’s suggested to use a gun to kill and cut it for Yoshie. The Whitetip Reefshark has around 100 HP.
Return to Bancho Sushi and add the Whole Roasted Shark Head to the menu so Yoshie can order it.
Once you complete the sub-mission, you will earn the ability to post hiring ads and will eventually get your first employee.
Signal from the Sea People
To begin on Tuesday, 10/04, Dr. Bacon will provide a radar to you, which will help find the Sea People as part of the main mission. Before diving, if you have enough gold coins, I would suggest upgrading your Air Tank and/or Diving Suit. Where you need to go as part of this main mission is about 145m in the depths.
During this chapter, it’s likely you will die attempting to dive deeper. You’ll find more aggressive fish, along with having the lack of O2 in most cases.
This is the first time in the game where you can avoid doing the main missions and try to catch more fish, which could lead to more profit at Bancho Sushi, allowing you to upgrade your gear.
Once you finally reach 145m depth, you’ll see that the area you need to go to is blocked by rocks. Head up to the Boat after Dr. Bacon talks to you. You’ll want to speak with Cobra for your next objective.
When you swim up to the Boat, Dr. Bacon will call you first. Answer the cell phone, and he’ll tell you he found a signal from the Sea People in the area you were just in. Talk to Cobra, he will tell Dave he will need a Bomb to get through the rocks. However, he will need you to retrieve Drone Materials, which are located at the Limestone Cave.
Where the Currents Flow
In the Where the Currents Flow mission, you will need to retrieve the following items:
- (1) Computer Chips
- (1) Motor
- (1) Camera lens
Luckily, these are all in the same area. The only challenge is that there is a current that will boost you very fast to the point that it could damage you.
The Limestone Cave is located around 82m in Normal Depth. The chests are all in the same area. There is one that is in a tough spot, but as long as you obtain each chest, and even if you die, you’ll keep them.
Thankfully, there is an O2 tank nearby, so you can recover and collect each item. In the area of the Motor crate, it’s surrounded by Jellyfish and the current that will push you.
Once you get all 3 crates, try to find your way out through an Escape Pod, or if you die, you will keep the crates. The only negative is that any fish you could or items received you can only choose 1 to keep.
Rewards:
These are the rewards for completing Where the Currents Flow
- 500 Gold
- x5 Soy Sauce
- x5 Salt
Assisting Ellie
When you begin Wednesday, 10/05, Ellie will call you asking you to get 3 Blue Shells and 3 Brown Shells.
The Blue and Brown Shells are located all over the Giant Blue Hole. It won’t be hard to find them. Keep exploring around, and if you are in the 15m to 40m depth area. You’ll see a marker on top of the Shells you need.
Rewards:
- Access to the Ecowatcher app
What Happened to the Dolphins?
After you speak to Ellie, you may run into the Dolphin again, which has another situation with its calf in a net again. This time, captured by pirates. Follow the Dolphin again as it leads you to the young Dolphin trapped.
This time, it’s a little different as the Pirates are trying to pull it up to their boat to kill it. Swim up to the top of the net and constantly spam the action button to use your knife to let it free before the Pirates take it away. If you die during this, don’t worry, you can restart the process again. The game will start when you discover the trapped Dolphin.
Beware, the Pirates will keep shooting at you while cutting the net.
The reward you receive will be x1 Large Gold Bar, which can be sold to Cobra for 500 gold coins.
Beyond The Rock Pile
The next mission is to blow up the rock pile that you finally found earlier in Signal from the Sea People. At the start of this one, you’ll unlock the Cobra Shop. This is where you will be able to sell the Large Gold Bar. This can help you buy the Bombs he sells that you need or to upgrade your diving gear.
Once ready, swim down to the Rock Pile and plant the bomb on it to open the entry way into this secret region. Once the bomb is planted, swim away just enough so you won’t be impacted by the explosion.
Once the Rock Piles are gone, you can enter the new region. This is where you start to learn more about the ‘Sea People’. This is also known as the Sea People Record Chamber.
Dr. Bacon is going to have you investigate three areas in the room. They will be marked with a magnifying glass. Lastly, he’ll want you to take a picture of the mural using the camera. Swim up to the camera icon to take the perfect picture.
After taking the photo, there will be a Sea People Artifact on the ground. Dr. Bacon instructs Dave to take it. Random ancient sounds will occur. Leave the Sea People Record Chamber using the Escape Pod to the left of the entrance.
Once you’re at the Boat, John Watson will pull up on a boat with protestors. They heard the explosion and are worried about hurting the environment because of it.
Gourmet Vincent’s Challenge
When going back to Bancho Sushi on Sunday, 10/09, during Chapter 1, Gourmet Vincent will show up as a VIP Customer and will ask to make a special dish.
Here are the ingredients you need:
- (1) White Spotted Jellyfish
- (1) Sea Grape
- (1) Salt
How To Catch and Find White Spotted Jellyfish
In Dave the Diver, the White Spotted Jellyfish are easiest to find at the Limestone Cave, which is around 75m in depth. You don’t need any special gun to kill and catch these creatures. What makes it tough is how much damage they put on you.
The way I killed the White Spotted Jellyfish was by using an upgraded version of the Basic Underwater Rifle. They have around 50 HP, and once you kill it, you can swim to it and obtain it. I recommend catching the other ones before moving on.
It’s worth noting that every time you dive into the Giant Blue Hole, the Jellyfish may not spawn all the time.
Once you have all the ingredients for Vincent, head back to Bancho Sushi when ready and serve the VIP customer his meal.
Rewards:
After completing Vincent’s challenge, he will give you a refrigerator so you can start selling Beer at the Bar.
Here is what else you’ll earn:
- 1000 Gold Coins
- 50 Likes
Hiring An Employee
After serving Yoshie her Shark Head, she will help you unlock the Staff section, which is the last critical tool for the Sushi Bar. She will teach you how to hire an employee.
When swimming up to the Boat one night, Bancho will share a new applicant. Kyoko will be the first employee you’ll hire in Dave the Diver. They will help you serve customers faster. Yoshie will teach you how to add new staff members.
Duff’s Pink Delivery
Continuing into Chapter 1, you will have to Call Duff about the Pink Delivery Box, which was part of a Sunken Transport Ship. After talking with Duff on the phone, dive back in and Investigate the Delivery Shipwreck.
The Delivery Shipwreck is straight down south from where you start, usually. Try not to swim too far east, or else you will not find it. For everyone’s playthrough, the environment will be different. The Shipwreck is usually
As the cutscene appears the Pink Delivery Box gets taken away by the Giant Squid.
The Leahs-chan Rescue
The Delivery Shipwreck is in the same location. We’ll need to crack it open by using the Power Drill and just follow the trace until it reaches the other end.
Enter the Shipwreck to access the dangerous area where you’ll meet the Giant Squid.
Defeat Pirates
Before you go try to retrieve the Pink Delivery Box, Dave will run into the gang of Pirates again.
All three of them will shoot at you. They have around 40 to 50 HP. As they get closer to death, they start to get a little angrier, firing multiple shots. It’s nothing too bad.
Giant Squid Boss Fight
As you enter the Shipwreck area, keep swimming east to eventually find the Giant Squid sleeping with the Pink Box next to it.
The Giant Squid is a very easy boss fight. You will need to keep shooting its eye to damage it. You’ll have to do this for about 3 rounds until it finally goes away.
Every time you shoot the Giant Squid, he will blast you with ink, which will push you towards the other side, but luckily, there are extra O2 tanks and ammo boxes in case you run out.
When you get pushed back, there will be random tentacles popping out. Luckily, it uses the same spots, so it’s easy to remember where they will be.
Once you defeat the Giant Squid, a “Sea People” will appear from underneath and go away. Make sure to also cut the Squid’s tentacle. Now you can grab the Pink Box from Duff.
When you return to the Boat and talk to Duff, he will give you a Deep Sea Headlamp to dive in the evening. He’ll also provide a Leahs-chan card.
Lastly, bring the Giant Squid Tentacle you cut up after defeating the boss, and bring it to Bancho.
To Finish Chapter 1 – Traces of the Sea People talk to the following members at the bar:
- Cobra
- Dr. Bacon
- Yoshie
- Bancho
Next on the list for Dave the Diver is Chapter 2 – Into the Deep.
