If you’ve spent any time exploring Mondstadt’s eastern coast, you’ve probably spotted the tiny, glowing island sitting far out in the sea, just out of normal gliding range. A lot of new players spend hours wasting stamina trying to swim or glide over, only to run out of energy halfway and respawn back on the mainland. If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place: we’re breaking down exactly how to get to Musk Reef in Genshin Impact, no exploits or high-level character requirements needed.
Why Musk Reef Is Worth Visiting First
You might be wondering if it’s even worth the effort to travel out to this tiny remote island, especially when you have a long list of quests and waypoints to unlock across Mondstadt and Liyue. The short answer is yes, absolutely. Musk Reef is home to the Spiral Abyss entrance, one of the most important endgame locations in all of Genshin Impact. You don’t need to be AR 20 to unlock the Musk Reef waypoint, so unlocking it early saves you a ton of hassle later when you’re ready to start running Abyss floors for primogems and upgrade materials.
Also, there are a few small hidden rewards scattered across the island that you can grab as soon as you arrive, including a common chest, a few seelie puzzles, and even a small world quest that gives you extra primogems and adventure rank exp. You don’t have to fight any enemies to unlock the waypoint either, so it’s a great low-stakes goal for new players still building their team.
Prerequisites You Need to Reach Musk Reef
Before you head out, there are just a few small boxes you need to tick to make the trip as smooth as possible. None of these require high adventure rank or rare characters, so you can check all of them off within your first few hours of playing if you want.
- First, unlock the Cape Oath waypoint on the far eastern edge of Mondstadt. This is the closest mainland point to Musk Reef, so starting here cuts your travel distance by more than half.
- Second, have at least one character in your party with 200+ stamina. You can get extra stamina by collecting anemoculi across Mondstadt and offering them to the Statues of The Seven. You don’t need full stamina, but 200 gives you a safe buffer if you make a small mistake mid-glide.
- Third, it helps (but is not required) to have a character like Venti, Kazuha, or Wanderer in your party for extra glide distance or air time. If you don’t have any of these, don’t worry, we have a route that works for free-to-play teams with no limited 5-star characters too.
If you don’t have enough stamina yet, you can still make the trip using the second route we cover below, so don’t put off unlocking the island just because you haven’t collected all the anemoculi yet.
How to Get to Musk Reef in Genshin Impact: 2 Simple Route Options
We’ve tested both of these routes dozens of times on new free-to-play accounts, so both work reliably even if you don’t have any special characters or items. Pick the one that fits your current party and stamina level.
Route 1: Glide directly from Cape Oath (fastest for most players)
Start by teleporting to the Cape Oath waypoint, then turn directly east so you’re facing Musk Reef straight on. Climb up the small cliff directly in front of the waypoint until you’re at the highest point, then jump off and start gliding. Hold down the glide button the entire time, and don’t use any stamina bursts unless you start dropping too low. If you have 200+ stamina, you’ll land on the island with at least 20 stamina left, no extra steps needed.
Route 2: Use the wind current platform puzzle for low-stamina accounts
If you have less than 200 stamina, or you don’t want to risk running out mid-glide, there’s a simple puzzle right at Cape Oath that spawns a wind current to carry you almost all the way to the island. Look for three small glowing seelie posts just south of the Cape Oath waypoint. You’ll find the three seelies hiding in small bushes and under rocks within 50 feet of the posts. Lead each seelie back to its post, and a large wind platform will spawn in the middle of the posts.
Step on the platform, and it will launch you hundreds of feet into the air, along with a continuous wind current that follows the path straight to Musk Reef. You can glide the entire way using almost no stamina, and you’ll even get a small achievement for using the puzzle to reach the island for the first time.
As soon as you land on the island, run to the waypoint at the center and activate it first. That way, if you fall off the edge or get knocked off by enemies later, you can teleport straight back instead of making the trip again.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Traveling to Musk Reef
We’ve seen hundreds of players make the same avoidable mistakes when trying to reach Musk Reef for the first time, so make sure you steer clear of these to save yourself time and frustration.
First, don’t try to swim to the island. Even if you have a character with extra swimming stamina like Kaeya or Ayaka, the distance is far enough that you’ll run out of stamina long before you reach the shore, unless you use a lot of stamina food. Gliding is always faster and safer, even if you have to solve the seelie puzzle first.
Second, don’t forget to activate the waypoint as soon as you land. A lot of players run straight to the Spiral Abyss entrance or start chasing seelies first, then accidentally fall off the edge of the island and have to make the whole trip again. The waypoint is right next to where you land, so it takes two seconds to activate it first.
Third, don’t waste primogems on resin to run the Spiral Abyss before Adventure Rank 20. The game won’t let you enter the Abyss until you hit AR 20 anyway, so there’s no rush to interact with the entrance as soon as you arrive. You can come back any time once you hit the required rank, since you already have the waypoint unlocked.
If you’re playing on mobile, make sure you have a stable internet connection before you start gliding. A lag spike mid-glide can make you drop too low and run out of stamina before you reach the island, which is a super frustrating way to waste a trip.
Unlocking Musk Reef early is one of the best small quality of life upgrades you can get as a new Genshin Impact player, and it takes less than 10 minutes total if you follow the steps we laid out. Even if you’re not ready to tackle the Spiral Abyss yet, having the waypoint unlocked means you can jump straight to the entrance whenever you hit AR 20, no extra travel needed. Now that you know how to get to Musk Reef in Genshin Impact, grab your glider, head to Cape Oath, and go claim that waypoint for yourself.