Snorkeling and scuba diving in The Sims 3 come from the Island Paradise expansion pack: your Sim snorkels in the ocean (or a big enough pool) to build the Scuba Diving skill, then scuba dives from the buoys that mark the underwater dive spots once that skill reaches level 2. Snorkeling is open to children and up, while actual scuba diving is teen and older. This guide covers how to start, how to level the skill, which dive spot each level unlocks, and how to manage oxygen, sharks and treasure.
What You Need
Diving is not in the base game or any other pack. EA’s own store description for Island Paradise (2013) sells it on the promise that Sims “can snorkel and scuba dive their way through the ocean,” and every piece of the system (the skill, the dive spots, the oxygen moodlets, the sharks) ships with it.
The four ready-made dive spots are all in Isla Paradiso, the pack’s own world. Snorkeling needs only deep water (a large pool counts), but scuba diving needs a dive spot lot, so a household that wants to dive has to be in Isla Paradiso. If your household lives elsewhere, our guide to visiting other towns in The Sims 3 explains how to move or travel between worlds.
How to Snorkel and Build the Skill
Snorkeling is how every Sim starts:
- Send your Sim into the ocean. Click the water well away from shore and pick the swim or snorkel option; the snorkel gear appears automatically.
- Let them snorkel. Each session adds Scuba Diving skill and can turn up small finds such as seashells and message bottles.
- Alternatively, take the Scuba Diving skill class at the science lab (Nautilus Laboratories in Isla Paradiso), which the community wiki lists as the other quick route to level 2.
Sims can snorkel in a swimming pool too, but per the community wiki the pool has to be spacious or the action cancels itself, and skill grows faster in the ocean. Children can snorkel and build hidden skill up to level 3, which becomes visible when they age into teens. The Loves to Swim trait speeds the whole skill up.
Where to Scuba Dive: Isla Paradiso Dive Spots
Once the skill hits level 2, boat or swim out to a dive spot’s buoy, click it and choose to scuba dive. Each spot has its own skill gate:
| Dive spot | Scuba Diving level to dive | Notes (per the community wiki) |
|---|---|---|
| Rocky Reef | 2 | South of the main island; stone arches, the easy starter spot |
| Davy Jones’ Locker | 4 | Shipwreck debris, an underwater cave and a treasure chest (chest opens at level 6) |
| Mermaid Grotto | 7 | Thick vegetation, two linked caves, two chests (chests open at level 8) |
| Pearl’s Deep | 9 | Sunken ruins near Science Island; two chests (level 10) and a cave leading to the hidden island Diver’s Den |
Underwater your Sim can catch fish and sea life by hand, gather shells and gems, explore caves and open treasure chests. Mermaid townies also turn up at dive spots and can be socialized with, which is one way into our Sims 3 mermaid guide. Per the community wiki, fish caught while diving are the same collectible fish you can land with a rod, so our Sims 3 fishing guide pairs well with a diving career.
Oxygen and Staying Alive
Scuba diving runs on an air supply shown as a moodlet. Per the community wiki it starts at 120 minutes at level 1 and grows with every skill level, reaching 420 minutes at level 10, while the time spent depressurizing afterwards shrinks. When the air moodlet runs out, a warning moodlet appears; ignore that and your Sim gets Gasping for Air, and if they are still underwater when it expires they can drown. Surface as soon as the warning shows.
Two ways around the limit: mermaids breathe underwater indefinitely, and the Lungs of Steel lifetime reward removes the oxygen worry for regular Sims.
Sharks
Sharks spawn on dive spots and near the surface in Isla Paradiso. The community wiki describes a small base chance of an attack that rises for each piece of meat or fish in the Sim’s inventory and rises sharply if the Sim stops to watch the shark, so sell or drop your catch between dives and do not linger. Hiding in an underwater cave avoids them. If an attack happens, higher Athletic, Martial Arts and Scuba Diving skills (and the Loves to Swim trait) improve the odds of fighting it off; a lost fight leaves Mauled by Shark and Gasping for Air, and a second attack under those moodlets can kill the Sim. Mermaids are never attacked.
Diving Outside Isla Paradiso
Isla Paradiso is the only world that ships with dive spots. Players have built their own diving-area lots in other worlds through Edit Town, and the community wiki notes that nearly every Maxis world can host one (Oasis Landing, with no large saltwater, is the exception). It is fiddly, unofficial work that EA never documented, so treat any tutorial as a player method rather than a supported feature. More Sims 3 walkthroughs are on our Sims guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which pack do you need to scuba dive in The Sims 3? Island Paradise. The Scuba Diving skill, snorkeling, dive spots and sharks all come from that expansion.
What level do you need to scuba dive? Scuba Diving level 2 opens the first dive spot, Rocky Reef. Deeper spots need levels 4, 7 and 9.
Can children scuba dive? No. Children can snorkel and build the skill up to level 3, but scuba diving is teen and older.
How do you stop your Sim drowning while diving? Surface when the low-air warning moodlet appears, before Gasping for Air sets in. Mermaids and Sims with the Lungs of Steel lifetime reward do not need to surface.
Can you scuba dive in other worlds? Not out of the box: only Isla Paradiso has dive spots. Players add custom diving-area lots to other worlds, but that is an unofficial workaround.