How to Fish Map: All Islands and Key Locations

Full Route at a Glance

The color difference for the Desert route is a source conflict rather than a reason to invent a new destination. IGN describes an orange dot, while Mobalytics uses yellow. In practice, follow the newly added marker after returning the Giant Piranha skeleton and confirm the palm-tree skyline.

How to Get and Use the Radar

Buy the Radar from the Lighthouse Keeper before leaving the starting island. The item can display unlocked destinations while you are on the boat, but the open-water view offers few other references. Losing or skipping it turns navigation into guesswork.

In solo play, release the controls or stop the boat, check the Radar, correct the heading, and continue. The IGN walkthrough explicitly notes that driving and checking it simultaneously is impractical. Repeat short checks instead of making a long run based on one early heading.

In co-op, assign one person to drive and another to navigate. Both the walkthrough and video footage show this being easier than having everyone call conflicting directions. The navigator should identify the target marker, then confirm the island silhouette as it appears.

Lighthouse to Forest

Lighthouse is the starting point, shown as the known home location on the Radar. Defeat Spider Crab and return its meat to receive the boat keys; without that quest handoff, leaving is not possible. Buy the Radar, enter the boat, and follow the new green marker.

Forest appears as a low island with a tree line. Mobalytics describes it as the first unlocked destination, while this site calls it Island 2 because Lighthouse is Island 1. If the marker is absent, return to the keeper and confirm that the boss meat was delivered.

Forest to Desert

Complete the leech quest, defeat Giant Piranha, and return its skeleton to the Forest NPC. The next marker is described as yellow by Mobalytics and orange by IGN. Treat the newly added colored point as authoritative for your current session.

The Desert destination is identified by palm trees and the Tourist quest. Stop periodically to recheck direction because the island may not appear immediately in fog or at a poor angle. The Island 3 guide begins when you reach the palms.

Desert to Rocks

Trade an endangered creature for the Carrot, defeat Pufferfish, and return its Fin. The new Rocks destination appears as a red marker in both the IGN route and Mobalytics progression. This consistency makes it the least ambiguous mid-game marker.

Look for several buildings, including a taller structure, rather than an empty rock formation. Game8 calls the area the Casino Barn, while other guides use Rocks Island. Those are different descriptions of the same Island 4 destination in this page matrix.

Rocks to Volcano

Catch Tuna with Professional Boss Lure, defeat it, and place it on dry ground to summon Albatross. Return the Albatross Head to the islander inside the shop to receive the final coordinates. The Volcano appears as a pink Radar point.

The volcano itself becomes visible well before many smaller island details, making it the strongest visual landmark. Destructoid places it generally north of the previous location, but this guide avoids treating a prose direction as an exact coordinate. Follow the active pink marker and use the volcanic skyline as confirmation.

Important Locations on Each Island

Lighthouse contains the starting shopkeeper, the Beer exchange, early weapons, the Radar, and the boat. Forest centers on the daughter or lake-side NPC, leeches, the Fishing Rod upgrade, firearms, and Giant Piranha. Desert contains the Tourist, Standard Lure pool, SMG upgrades, endangered fish, and Pufferfish.

Rocks or Barn contains the bait shop, weapon shop, casino, Tuna encounter area, cover buildings, and Albatross handoff. Volcano contains the scientists, military shop, Scientific lures, Assault Rifle, Fish Bucket quest, crater path, and final whale sequence. The all islands guide explains the unlock tied to each location.

Navigation Checklist

Before every crossing, confirm that the new quest marker exists, the Radar is actually in the inventory, and the boat has enough room for all players. Point the boat at the marker, travel for a short interval, stop if playing solo, and correct the heading. As the island appears, match its skyline to the route table before committing to shore.

If the boat drifts or a player falls overboard, solve that immediate problem before continuing navigation. The transcripts show groups losing direction when several people call different landmarks at once. One navigator, one target marker, and repeated short checks produce the most reliable crossing.

When a Marker Does Not Appear

First confirm the boss is actually the required progression boss. Optional Sunfish, The Old Pike, Blue Shark, and Goblin Shark do not replace the NPC quest encounter. The boss list separates optional catches from story gates.

Next, retrieve and return the required trophy. A dead boss does not automatically finish every exchange: the NPC needs Spider Crab meat, Giant Piranha skeleton, Pufferfish Fin, Albatross Head, or the final whale drop. Search the combat area before leaving or selling nearby items.

Finally, verify that the Radar is in your inventory and that the correct marker is selected or visible. If a video shows direct navigation to Volcano, do not assume that shortcut works now. A local source says Patch 1.0.5 removed the island skip, so follow the quest route unless current patch evidence confirms otherwise.

Related Guides

Use the walkthrough for every quest step, Island 4 for the building-heavy Rocks destination, and max players for driver-and-navigator co-op preparation. Players missing a map marker because of an unfinished bait exchange should open all baits. The islands hub remains the quickest reference for destination names.