How to Complete Catch the Runaway Seahorses Quest in Dave the Diver

Dave’s adventures into the Big Blue Hole gain even more depth when he eventually discovers an entire underwater village of mermaids (or Sea People, as the game calls them), whom have lived a relatively peaceful existence for centuries outside the scope of land-dwelling humans.

As Dave becomes more acquainted with them in Chapter 3, he ends up embarking on a number of sub-missions for the village’s residents.

One of the trickier ones undoubtedly is Catch the Runaway Seahorses, which involves doing just as the name suggests. As small as they are you’ll have to know exactly where to look, and if you’re wondering just where the heck they are in the village, we’ve got you covered. Here is our handy guide for how to complete Catch the Runaway Seahorses quest in Dave the Diver.

Where to Unlock the Catch the Runaway Seahorses Quest in Dave the Diver

For this particular quest in Dave the Diver, you’ll want to swim over to the Game Parlor at the far right end of the Sea People‘s Village. Remember that you don’t consume any oxygen while in the village, so don’t worry if you get a bit lost along the way.

Go inside the Parlor and speak to the hostess named Linchen. She explains how the Parlor serves as a getaway for the locals after a hard day of work, and she helps orchestrate activities such as Seahorse Racing. However, with the ongoing earthquakes that continue to rattle the area, the seahorses got scared and ended up running away.

Linchen asks Dave to go look for and retrieve the missing seahorses that been scattered around the village. There are 4 Seahorses in all to find, and again they’re all within the vicinity of the village, so it’s by no means an exhausting trek into the ocean. That said, seahorses are quite small, so having a keen eye is the key here.

Having the right tool to catch them is important also, but thankfully Dave already has that in his arsenal. The Bug Net from the Clione mission earlier on is all you’ll need for this.

Below is the exact location for all four missing Seahorses. They all have unique names and will be checked off your mission menu as you find them, so it’s simple to keep track. They’ll also have blue diamond objective markers over them, to help make them easier to spot.

Giraffe Seahorse

The Giraffe Seahorse can be found by swimming to the left after leaving the Parlor. Swim past the group of young children playing and just past the giant statue (as seen above). The seahorse will be floating near the portal that takes you to the upper part of the village. Catch it with your Bug Net and then move on to the next one.

Hedgehog Seahorse

Swim further on to the left after finding the first seahorse, and the Hedgehog Seahorse can be found swimming in front of the yellow ad sign outside Mima’s Restaurant. Swipe it with your Bug Net and continue on.

Dwarf Seahorse

The Dwarf Seahorse can be found by swimming even further left and entering Kazhin’s Seed Shop, which is the building with the giant pink flower on the roof. Inside, you’ll see the the seahorse floating on the left side right by the door. Bid Kazhin farewell (looks a lot like Otto, doesn’t he?), and move on to find the last seahorse.

Crowned Seahorse

For the Crowned Seahorse, you’ll need to swim back to the right and go through the big stone portal at the center of the village. This will take you to the upper level, where Tenzhin’s House resides. Head inside there, and you’ll see the last seahorse swimming around the foyer area. Fitting and not surprising that the Crowned Seahorse will be found in the house of the Chief of the Sea People, eh?

Upon finding all of the seahorses, you can then head back to the Game Parlor and speak with Linchen. She’s happy they can now resume their Seahorse Races, and rewards Dave with 20 x Bei and 20 x Credit, which you’ll need to fill Tenzhin’s affinity gauge and gain his trust along with the village’s.

That concludes our guide for how to complete Catch the Runaway Seahorses quest in Dave the Diver. We hope you found this helpful, and let us know how you’ve enjoyed the game’s story overall so far.

Be sure to check out our official review of Dave the Diver, as well as all of our other content (including where it ranked in our favorite indie games for 2023!)