The orange tablet subnautica location is the Deep Grand Reef Degasi Seabase, the third and final base built by the Degasi survivors. You'll find the physical Orange Tablet inside this seabase at coordinates approximately -680 -515 -941, specifically in the room with the large observation window overlooking the reef. This is the only place in the game where you can find a complete, ready-to-use Orange Tablet without crafting one, and you'll need to find a blue tablet in subnautica later to access the deeper alien facilities.
Orange tablet subnautica location: the exact spot
Head to the Deep Grand Reef biome and locate the Degasi Seabase built into a massive underwater cliff face. Scan the tablet with your scanner to unlock its blueprint, then pick it up. This is the same base where you'll find the last three PDAs from the Degasi survivors, including the one that reveals the fate of Bart Torgal, and a Cuddlefish egg in a locker in the same room.
How to get to the Deep Grand Reef seabase
From the Floating Island, swim southwest toward the Grand Reef. Once you reach the Grand Reef's distinctive blue brine pools and hanging kelp, descend while keeping the seafloor on your left. You'll see a large cave opening leading into the Deep Grand Reef. The Degasi Seabase is built into a rock wall at the far end of this cave system, just past a cluster of Brain Coral. A Seamoth with a MK2 depth module (500m) or a Prawn Suit is recommended, the Cyclops is too large to navigate the tight cave entrance. Watch out for Crabsquids that patrol the area and Warpers that can teleport you out of your vehicle. Bring a Repair Tool and a Laser Cutter; the base's doors are damaged and need cutting open.
What else is inside the seabase
Beyond the Orange Tablet, this seabase holds the final pieces of the Degasi storyline. You'll find three PDAs: one from Marguerit Maida describing her encounter with a Reaper Leviathan, one from Bart Torgal about the alien infection, and one from Paul Torgal revealing their plan to build a third base. There's also a Cuddlefish egg in a locker in the same room as the Orange Tablet, hatch it in an Alien Containment unit to get a friendly companion. The Orange Tablet blueprint unlocks automatically when you scan the physical tablet, so make sure you scan it before picking it up. This is the only Degasi base that contains a complete Orange Tablet; the other two bases only have fragments and data boxes.
Craft the orange tablet as a fallback
If you somehow lose the physical Orange Tablet or need a second one for later use, you can craft it at a Fabricator once you've scanned it. The crafting recipe requires 1x Ion Cube and 2x Nickel Ore. Ion Cubes are found in Precursor caches and the Lost River, while Nickel Ore is found in the Lost River and the Inactive Lava Zone. Since the blueprint unlocks at this seabase, you can return to craft additional tablets whenever you have the materials. This is particularly useful because you'll need the Orange Tablet to open the Lost River Laboratory Cache, and having a spare saves you a trip back to the Deep Grand Reef.
Where to use the orange tablet next
The Orange Tablet opens the sealed door at the Lost River Laboratory Cache, located in the Lost River biome near the Ghost Leviathan skeleton. Insert the tablet into the Precursor terminal to unlock the cache, which contains the Blue Tablet blueprint and valuable data. You can find the Blue Tablet blueprint in the Lost River Laboratory Cache, so having the Orange Tablet is your ticket to progressing further into the game's main storyline.
