You’re swimming through the Blue Hole, minding your own business, when a silver streak blurs past your mask. Before you can even aim your harpoon, it’s gone. That’s the tuna experience in a nutshell. Honestly, for most players, these fish are the first real "wall" they hit. They’re fast, they’re tanky, and they hit like a freight train if you get in their way.
Most people just try to poke them with a basic harpoon. Big mistake. You'll spend ten minutes chasing a single Yellowfin, waste all your oxygen, and probably end up as shark bait. If you want to actually make bank during the Tuna Party, you need to stop playing fair.
The Absolute Best Way to Catch Tuna
Forget the harpoon. Seriously. Unless you’ve upgraded it to some late-game elemental beast, it’s basically a toothpick against these guys.
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The game tries to help you out early on. Cobra eventually gives you the Steel Sensor Trap. It’s a floor-based mine that poofs into a net when a fish swims over it. It’s effective, sure. But it’s also a pain to set up because you have to predict the tuna’s path. They swim in very specific, repeating loops. If you miss the placement by a few inches, you’re just standing there like a dork while they zoom past.
If you want to feel like a pro, you need the Steel Net Gun.
This is the holy grail of tuna Dave the Diver hunts. Unlike the regular net gun, the steel version is the only one strong enough to hold a tuna. You can actually bag three or four of them in a single shot if you time it right. It’s incredibly satisfying. You just fire, they get tangled, and you call in the Salvage Drone to whisk them away.
Pro Tip: Tuna are considered "large" fish. This means you cannot put them to sleep with the standard Hush Dart. I’ve seen so many people waste a whole magazine trying. Don't be that guy. Use a Tranquilizer Rifle if you haven't unlocked the Steel Net Gun yet; it has a percentage chance to proc a deep sleep, but it’s still a gamble.
Where the Heck Are They?
Tuna don’t just hang out everywhere. They’re picky.
Usually, you’ll find them in the 0-50m range. Basically the shallows and the very top of the Medium Depths. There are two main flavors: Yellowfin and Bluefin.
- Yellowfin Tuna: These are your "common" variety. They usually spawn on the right side of the map. They’re worth good money, but they’re really just the warm-up act.
- Bluefin Tuna: These are the big boys. They tend to stick to the left side or the center. You’ll know when they’re around because the music often shifts, and you’ll see them traveling in a tight pack.
Here’s the thing about spawns: they are RNG-heavy. You might go three dives without seeing a single one. However, during the Tuna Party event, the game basically forces them to spawn every single time. If you see the notification for the party on your calendar, start hoarding. Do not sell your tuna meat until the night of the event. You’ll get a massive price multiplier that makes regular sushi prices look like pocket change.
Cooking for Profit: The Best Recipes
You’ve caught the fish. Now what? Bancho is waiting, and he’s probably judging your lack of preparation.
If you’re looking for the absolute highest ROI, focus on the Bluefin Tuna Ootoro Sushi. It’s the fatty belly meat. In the real world, this stuff is legendary, and in the game, it’s no different. It scales incredibly well when you enhance it.
However, many players overlook the Hawaiian Poke. Is it the most expensive? No. But it uses Yellowfin Akami, which is way easier to find. It also uses Sesame Seeds and Mayonnaise. You can get those through the Dispatch system easily. It’s a high-volume dish that keeps the customers happy without requiring you to risk your life against a Great White every afternoon.
The Fish Farm Dilemma
"Can I just breed them?" I get asked this constantly.
Yes and no. You can get tuna roe (eggs) and they will show up in your fish farm. But there’s a massive catch. The fish farm usually only gives you the lowest grade of meat (the 1-star stuff). If you want the high-end Chutoro or Ootoro cuts, you almost always have to catch them in the wild using the drone.
The farm is great for "filler" meat, but for the Tuna Party, you need those 3-star catches. To get a 3-star, the fish has to be alive when the drone picks it up. That means net or sleep. If you kill it with a harpoon or a gun, you're stuck with 1 or 2 stars.
Survival Tactics for the Blue Hole
Tuna move fast. If they hit you, you lose a chunk of oxygen. If you’re already low, that’s a one-way ticket back to the boat with a lost inventory.
- Watch the path: They always swim in a circle. Position yourself inside the circle, not in the path.
- Use the environment: If there’s a narrow gap in the coral, wait there. It forces them to bunch up, making your Steel Net Gun shot way more likely to hit multiple targets.
- Upgrade your Drone: You only start with one or two drone uses. Upgrade this ASAP via the iDiver app. Being able to pull three tunas out in one dive is the difference between a 10k gold night and a 50k gold night.
Basically, tuna hunting is the point where Dave the Diver stops being a cozy fishing game and starts being a tactical gear check. If you try to brute force it, you'll hate it. If you use the right tools—specifically the Steel Net Gun—you’ll be the richest diver in the Blue Hole.
Start by checking your shop every morning for those Steel Sensor Traps. If they aren't there, focus on your weapon upgrades. You want to have that Net Gun ready before the first Tuna Party alert hits your phone. Check your iDiver app now to see how many materials you're missing for the next tier of the Net Gun.