Everything New In Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Summer Update

July marked the arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' first big summer update, which rolled out in two waves over the course of the month. Wave one added a whole bunch of new features, including swimming and diving, sea creatures, new visitor interactions, and a new DIY recipe set. Wave two of the Summer update celebrates the arrival of August with another set of features, including dreams, fireworks, and some quality of life changes. Read up on all the summer updates below.

Swimming And Diving

The biggest new feature from the update is the ability to swim and dive in the ocean around your island. We have a full guide on how to get a wetsuit and swim, so check it out to get started.

Catching New Sea Creatures

Swimming and diving on your island opens up a new world of wildlife to find and collect. There are 40 sea creatures you can catch, all categorized in their own "sea creature" label in your Critterpedia. You can also donate them to Blathers at the museum.

Pascal Is Here!

Pascal is a new visitor you can meet while swimming around your island. He'll trade you DIY recipes for scallops and sometimes reward you with pearls, a rare crafting item.

Mermaid DIY And Clothing Recipe Set

There's a new mermaid-themed DIY recipe set you can collect and craft. Pascal will trade you recipes for scallops and sometimes give you pearls, which you can use to craft the recipes. Other crafting materials required for the set include shells and other items you can find along your beach, like coral.

Gullivarrr (Pirate Gulliver) And New Pirate Items

A new Pirate-themed Gulliver, or Gullivarrr, now has a chance of showing up on your island. If you help him, he'll reward you with pirate-themed furniture and clothing. You'll need to know how to swim for this one!

Summer Shells DIY Recipes

Summer shells were added in June. Similar to cherry blossom petals, they are a seasonal crafting recipe you can find between now and August on Northern hemisphere islands. Check out the full list of summer shells DIY recipes for info on where to find the shells and what you can craft with them.

Fireworks

For the month of August, every Sunday at 7pm local time, you'll be able to catch a fireworks show in the night sky on your island.

Dreams

You can now dream in New Horizons by taking a nap in any bed in your house. Dreaming lets you visit other players' islands using a "dream address."

Backing Up Your Island

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers now have access to an "island backup service," which will occasionally backup your island data and make it possible to restore it if your Nintendo Switch is damaged or lost.