You’re gliding through the Lanayru Sky Archipelago, the music gets all twinkly, and suddenly you’re staring at a giant floating green rock. If you’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you know the drill. But the orbs of water shrine, officially known as the Sihajog Shrine, is one of those spots that feels easy until it isn't. It sits way up in the sky, specifically at coordinates (4544, -0845, 1120).
It's beautiful. It's serene. Honestly, it’s also a giant physics headache if you don’t respect the momentum.
Most players stumble onto this while hunting for the Glide Suit or just exploring the Valor Island chain. The trial inside is called "Water Wisdom," and it’s all about manipulating giant, slow-moving bubbles of water to bridge gaps that Link definitely can’t jump. People get stuck because they try to treat the water like a solid platform. It's not. It’s a conveyor belt that you happen to be inside of.
Getting to the Sihajog Shrine Without Losing Your Mind
Before you even worry about the orbs inside, you have to get to the island. This isn't a stroll in Central Hyrule. You’re going to want to launch from the Mount Lanayru Skyview Tower. From there, it’s a long paraglide or a Zora Armor trek up a waterfall if you’ve got the stamina.
Tulin’s Power of Wind is basically mandatory here unless you enjoy eating through twenty Stamella Shrooms. Once you land on Valor Island, you’ll likely have to complete a dive ceremony first. This is a recurring theme in the sky islands—prove you can fall, then prove you can think.
Once the shrine door glows and you step inside, the atmosphere shifts. It’s quiet. You’re surrounded by these shimmering, translucent spheres that defy gravity. These are the "orbs of water" everyone talks about. They move in set patterns, and your job is to use them to ascend through the chamber.
The Mechanics of Water Wisdom
The first room is a tutorial. It’s dead simple. You see an orb of water moving horizontally across a gap. You jump in, you float, you hop out the other side.
But then the game starts messing with you.
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The second floor introduces the concept of height. You can’t just stand in the water; you have to swim upward. If you’re lazy and just let the orb carry you, you’ll miss the ledge. You've gotta actively mash that "B" button to swim to the top of the bubble before it pops or moves out of range.
The trick is the "hop." When the orb reaches its destination, it usually hits a wall and dissipates. If you’re still inside it when it pops, you drop like a stone. You have to jump out of the water orb just a second before it reaches the end of its path. It feels weirdly like exiting a moving bus.
Solving the Big Orb Puzzle
The real meat of the orbs of water shrine is the third section. You’ll see a launcher—a stone block on a track—and a series of orbs moving upward. You need to get one of those orbs to go exactly where you want it.
Here’s what people miss: Ultrahand works on the water orbs. Sorta.
Actually, scratch that. You don't move the water with Ultrahand; you move the environment to catch the water. There’s a block you can slide. If you don’t align the track correctly, the orbs just hit the ceiling and vanish. You have to create a path.
I’ve seen players spend twenty minutes trying to time a paraglide into a moving bubble. Don't do that. Just use Recall. If a bubble passes you, hit it with Recall to bring it back down to your level, hop in, and then cancel the ability. It’s the "cheat code" for almost every sky shrine, yet we always forget it exists in the heat of the moment.
How to Get the Hidden Chest (Because You Know You Want It)
Every shrine has a chest. In Sihajog, the chest is tucked away in a spot that’s easy to overshoot.
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While you're riding the orbs toward the final altar, look to your left. There’s a high platform tucked away in the shadows. To get there, you need to "jump" bubbles. You’ll be in one orb, and you’ll see another one passing higher up.
- Wait until the two orbs are at their closest point.
- Jump out of your current orb.
- Paraglide for a split second.
- Enter the second orb.
Inside that chest? Usually a Mighty Construct Bow or a high-level Zonai Charge. In the early game, that bow is a lifesaver. By the endgame, you’re probably just doing it for the "100% completion" hit of dopamine.
Gravity is Different in the Sky
One thing the game doesn't explicitly tell you about the orbs of water shrine is that the physics inside the shrine don't always match the "low gravity" zones outside. If you’re coming straight from a low-G island, your jump timing will be off.
In here, gravity is standard.
The bubbles move at a constant velocity. Unlike the fire or ice puzzles in other shrines, there’s no "state change" here. The water won't freeze. It won't evaporate. It's just a moving platform with a very forgiving hitbox.
If you find yourself falling through the bottom of a bubble, it’s usually because you’re trying to use a Zonai tool. Don't pull out a wing or a balloon inside. The water physics and the Zonai physics interact in really janky ways that usually end with Link falling into the abyss. Keep it simple. Just swim.
Why the Sihajog Shrine Matters for the Late Game
Completing this shrine gives you a Light of Blessing, obviously. But the real value is the fast travel point.
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The Lanayru Sky is huge. Having a teleport point right next to the Valor Island dive challenge is crucial for farming the Glide Suit upgrades. You'll need to come back here to beat the higher-tier time trials to get the "Impact Proof" set bonus.
Without that suit, falling from these heights is a death sentence. With it? You're a bird.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most players fail the final jump because they get impatient. They see the exit, they see the bubble, and they jump too early.
The bubbles in the final section have a slight "arc" to them. They aren't traveling in a perfectly straight line. If you jump at the peak of the arc, you'll have more air time to reach the final platform.
Also, watch your stamina. Swimming in the orbs drains it just like swimming in a lake. If you’re low on stamina circles, eat a meal before you enter the final orb sequence. There is nothing more frustrating than being six inches from the Rauru statue and drowning in a floating ball of water because you ran out of green bar.
Actionable Tips for Mastery
If you're heading toward the shrine now, keep these specific tactics in mind to save yourself some frustration:
- Use the Zora Armor: While not strictly necessary, it makes swimming upward inside the orbs significantly faster.
- Recall is Your Friend: If you miss a bubble, don't wait for the next one to respawn. Use Recall on the one that just passed to bring it back.
- The "Slow Jump": When exiting an orb, don't just walk out. Jump and immediately tap the paraglider. This gives you a tiny bit of extra lift that makes reaching the ledges much easier.
- Perspective Check: If you can't figure out where the orb is going, use the Ultrahand "highlight" mode. It makes the translucent water much easier to see against the bright sky background.
Once you’ve touched the final sigil, you’re done. You’ve mastered the water wisdom. Now take that Light of Blessing, go find a Goddess Statue, and put it into Stamina. You're going to need it for the next set of islands.