Best Open-World Games Where You Can Swim

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Summary

  • Early open-world games long avoided swimming; today many treat water as a normal, optional surface.
  • Many modern AAA games, like The Witcher 3, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Horizon Forbidden West, and GTA 5, offer swimming, underwater diving, as well as boats and other water traversal tools.
  • Some games include swimming but limit its use; Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 4 both feature swimming and diving, but it’s almost entirely optional in these games.

From the beginning of 3D open-world games, letting players swim has been surprisingly uncommon. Developers often skipped it because it was technically difficult to implement. Early popular games like *Grand Theft Auto 3* and *Vice City* usually meant instant death if you entered the water – a way to keep players from wandering off. Even now, many open-world games with huge maps don’t allow free swimming. Some avoid water altogether, while others, like *Red Dead Redemption 2*, rely on boats and other vehicles instead of letting the character swim.

Fortunately, many recent open-world games have made water much more accessible to players. Most titles now let you swim, dive, and travel across water easily, either without limits or using a stamina system. They often include things like mounts, vehicles, and boats to help you get around. Here are some of the best open-world games where swimming feels just as natural as running on land.

This list highlights games where swimming and diving are fun additions, but not the main focus. We’re leaving out games completely centered around swimming, such as *Subnautica*.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Geralt Can Swim, Use Boats, or Drink Potions to Stay Underwater For Longer

As a huge fan, I was blown away by how much bigger and more immersive The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was! Compared to the previous games, the world felt truly open – you could explore a massive map with different regions, ride a horse everywhere, and even swim and dive underwater. It was amazing! Geralt can use boats to get around on rivers and seas, especially when exploring the Skellige Islands. And if you want to find hidden treasures, you can dive down and search – as a Witcher, Geralt even has a special potion called Killer Whale that lets him hold his breath for way longer underwater. It really adds to the experience!

Notably, *The Witcher 3* features battles fought underwater, made possible by using crossbows. While crossbows aren’t always the best weapon, they let Geralt take down flying creatures and quickly defeat enemies while submerged with a precise shot.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

From Customizable Ships to Unlimited Underwater Exploration

The original *Assassin’s Creed* didn’t allow players to swim, but *Assassin’s Creed 2* introduced swimming with the character Ezio. Since then, most games in the series have included swimming to some extent. It’s a particularly important feature in *Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag* and *Assassin’s Creed Odyssey*, as these games feature large, water-filled maps.

In *Assassin’s Creed Odyssey*, you can captain your own ship, the Adrestia, in naval battles, and use smaller boats to travel quickly. You can also ride animals to cross rivers and swim or dive anywhere in the ocean. If you find Poseidon’s Trident, you’ll be able to breathe underwater forever, making underwater exploration and treasure hunting much easier.

Horizon Forbidden West

One of the Most Breathtaking Underwater Locales, Plus A Unique Water Mount

Building on the first game, *Horizon Forbidden West* significantly improves swimming and introduces deep-sea diving. Players can explore beautifully detailed underwater environments filled with unique machines and hidden secrets. A key tool for underwater exploration is the Diving Mask, which allows unlimited breathing – similar to a tool found in *Assassin’s Creed Odyssey*. In fact, the Diving Mask is essential, as many areas of *Horizon Forbidden West* are inaccessible without it.

If you love exploring underwater in games, you *need* to check out the Burning Shores expansion! It adds this awesome machine called the Waterwing – basically, it’s a mount I can ride, and it’s amazing for diving and patrolling under the waves. Once I learned how to hack and control it, it totally changed how I explore Horizon Forbidden West. I can fly *and* dive super fast, making underwater exploration way more exciting!

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

Swimming Coupled With Creative Methods Of Water Traversal

Both *The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* and *The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom* feature water as an important part of adventure and discovery. Link can swim, but his stamina limits how far he can go, so players need to be careful when swimming across large bodies of water. Despite this, neither game allows players to explore *under* the water.

In *The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*, getting across water is more creative than ever. The game’s Ultrahand and Fuse abilities let you build all sorts of vehicles and devices, and with enough resources, the only limit is your imagination.

Grand Theft Auto 5

The Gold Standard For Swimming And Water Transport Options In An Open World

After *Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas* let us finally swim in the games, every *GTA* since has kept that feature, and *Grand Theft Auto 5* is no different. Honestly, *GTA 5* really stepped up the water gameplay. Whether I’m swimming, diving, or grabbing a boat or submarine, there are tons of ways to get around on the water in both the story mode and *GTA Online*. It’s a huge part of the experience now!

In addition to typical boats, ships, and jet skis, *Grand Theft Auto 5* stands out with unique vehicles like personal submarines. It’s safe to say *Grand Theft Auto 6* will also heavily feature water activities, including swimming, diving, and a wide range of vehicles like boats and jet skis – as we’ve already glimpsed in the game’s trailers.

Cyberpunk 2077

The Ability To Swim And Dive Is Present But Largely Underutilized

Like in *The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt*, you can swim and dive in *Cyberpunk 2077*. V can swim in any water and explore underwater locations during quests, such as the Pyramid Song mission. You can also hang out on Kerry Eurodyne’s yacht, though you can’t actually steer it.

It’s a nice touch that you can swim in *Cyberpunk 2077*, but the feature doesn’t feel fully developed. There aren’t any boats or other water vehicles, and very few quests actually require swimming. Curiously, the initial release of the game had a perk called ‘Commando’ that was meant to improve underwater combat, but it didn’t work at all and was later removed.

Fallout 4

Just Don’t Forget to Take Off Power Armor Before Diving

Similar to previous *Fallout* games, *Fallout 4*’s large Boston-area map includes many bodies of water like lakes, rivers, and the ocean. While much of the water is radioactive, players can swim and dive to explore. Sometimes you’ll need to swim or dive to complete quests, but this doesn’t happen very often.

If you want to swim and explore underwater in *Fallout 4*, keep a few things in mind. You can only swim without wearing power armor because it’s too heavy. Also, while the game has a large world, there aren’t a ton of interesting things hidden underwater, which some players might find a bit of a letdown.

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2025-10-11 06:07