Sandship dungeon walkthrough – Zelda: Skyward Sword HD guide (2024)

In this Skyward Sword HD Sandship walkthrough, we’ll guide you through the dungeon with tips on finding items, rupees, Goddess Cubes, and collectibles and completing every quest and side quest. We’ll walk you through finding your first Small Key and defeating Scervo to claim the Bow (and arrows). We’ll help you use the ship’s Timeshift Stone to find the Dungeon Map and activate the ship’s two Power Generators. You’ll head belowdecks to rescue the Skipper’s crew from the Brig and then find the Captain’s Quarters to claim the Squid Carving key item. Finally, we’ve got tips for defeating this dungeon’s boss, the Abyssal Leviathan Tentalus.

From the deck of the Sandship, head through the door on the right, and take the stairs down.

Turn left to find a Goddess Wall.

On the south side of B1, follow the hall and go through the door.

Dash across the sinksand on the right, and take the hall to the end. Head downstairs again.

Run along the hall full of Arachas and save at the bird statue. Loop around and go through the door in the northeast.

Use your Gust Bellows to clear the sand. You’re looking for four symbols on the floor. The symbols are numbered by the red handles on top, and the blue segment corresponds to the lock in this room. In order, they are bottom, top, bottom, right.

Hit the lock from these directions to open it.

Open the chest in the next room for a Small Key.

Backtrack all the way to the first room on 1F. Use the Small Key on the door to the west (it’s right next to the first bird statue).

Here, you’ll face a miniboss at the bow of the ship. The fight against Scervo takes place along a narrow strip of the deck, so all you’re really doing is attacking and Shield Bashing to drive Scervo to the end.

Shield Bashing works very well to parry and stun Scervo’s attacks. You’ll need to drive them to the end of the walkway (plank?) three times to win the fight.

Once Scervo falls, open the chest that appears to claim the Bow.

Run back to the east until you reach the main deck. Shoot the Bow at the eye-like thing on the mast to reveal a Timeshift Stone at the very top. Shoot the Timeshift Stone with the Bow as well.

Clear out as many of the Bokoblins as you can see, and then climb the ladder on the back side of the mast.

At the top of the ladder, walk north to the end, and then face left (west). Shoot the eye on the other end of the zip line, and then ride the bar up.

Look back at the main mast. Shoot the eye on the zip line on the southern end, and then ride it up. Use your sword to unlock the Timeshift Stone and gates.

To the northeast, shoot the eye over the lifeboat to lower it — this is a shortcut for later.

Before you head belowdecks, shoot the eye on the eastern mast, and ride the zip line to the end. Drop off onto the deck, and look at the back side of the eastern mast.

Use your Clawshot on the target there. Clawshot even farther back, and drop off the mast. Drop all the way to the deck. There’s a chest to the north with a Piece of Heart. There’s a Goddess Wall to the south. Draw an arrow to refill your quiver.

Use the Clawshot targets to climb back up to the deck and head back inside.

Head down the stairs to B1 and into the main room.

In the room to the northwest, look up through the grate above you and shoot the Timeshift Stone. Cross to the south and open the chest for the Dungeon Map.

Pull the switch on the wall to lower the gate.

Cross the sinksand (again), and start down the hallway.

Watch for a fan on your right. Fire through the fan to hit the eye on the far wall.

Climb onto the ledge in the northwest corner and shove the box out of the way of another fan. Go stand on the switch along the eastern wall to expose an eye on in the other room.

Fire your Bow through the fan to hit the eye. Use your Gust Bellows to turn the fan if the blades are in your way.

Back in the hall go back to the Dungeon Map chest. In the room to the north, shoot up through the grate to hit the Timeshift Stone again.

Come back to the hallway and go through the first door on the right. Deal with the Bokoblin, and insert your sword into the switch in the back corner. Turn it to start the ship’s ignition.

Back in the hallway, take the second door on the left to enter the room to the northeast. Push the metal box onto the switch.

Climb out of the right porthole you just opened to find the lifeboat we lowered earlier. Hit the eye again to ride it up to the deck.

Stay on the lifeboat, and fire an arrow into the Timeshift Stone. Hit the lifeboat’s eye again to lower it.

Back inside the ship, head into the room on the right. Pull the switch on your left to unlock the door, and then stand under the ceiling grate. Fire up through it to hit the Timeshift Stone (again).

When it’s active, use your sword to activate the second Power Generator.

Use the door to the hallway to return to the room on the right. Crawl through the other porthole — the one on the left — and take the ladder down.

This will lead you to the engine room(?) where all of the pistons you’ve activated are pumping away. Turn right (west), and dodge the pistons. At the west end, use your Whip two swing across the gap heading south.

Take a left, and sprint past the five pistons in a row. Whip-swing on top of the next piston. Ride it up (it won’t crush you), and jump on top of the final piston.

On solid ground, pull the switch to open the gate behind you, and then crawl into the air duct.

Climb the ladder, and pull the switch to your left to rescue the crew.

They’ll give you a Small Key as a reward and point you to the Captain’s Quarters.

Retrace your steps through the vent, up the ladder, and onto the lifeboat. Ride it up to the deck (again). At the top, hit the Timeshift Stone (again). Use the Small Key on the door along the left.

Take the stairs down, and visit the bird statue to the north.

Step into the room to the west, and look up to shoot the Timeshift Stone (again).

Deal with the Beamos and Technoblin, and then stand on the switch along the north wall.

Fire an arrow through the hole that opens and hit the eye to unlock the door leading south.

Deal with the next three Beamoses as well. Use the Beamoses themselves as cover from each other as you take them out. Once all three are defeated, open the chest for the Squid Carving.

We need to take the Squid Carving back to the Brig. Head through the door, and ride the lifeboat down to B1. Don’t take the ladder all the way down, through. Back inside, head down the stairs in the southeast.

Heal up on the stool, and save at the bird statue.

You won’t actually fight the boss in this room, instead, after the tentacles burst through the floor, turn around and start running for the deck. Your path will be limited, so you can’t get lost.

When you run into tentacles, use a Skyward Strike to cut them. You’re going to be doing this a lot.

Keep running and avoiding obstacles until you make it to the deck and meet the Abyssal Leviathan Tentalus boss.

The first phase of this boss fight has two steps. At first, tentacles will come up through the deck. Use horizontal Skyward Strikes to sever them. Try to keep moving as you charge your strikes so you don’t get grabbed.

Once you’ve cut off enough tentacles, Tentalus will pop up from the ocean. They’ll swing their arm-tentacles down onto the deck and pause. Run to the side to avoid the overhead swing, and then draw your Bow.

Shoot Tentalus in their huge eyeball. Their head will fall forward. Skyward Strike some tentacles away from their face, and then get in close. Keep shooting arrows into their eye until they reset.

Just keep repeating this process. You’ll have to do it several times before phase 2 starts.

After enough arrows to the eyeball, Tentalus will throw a temper tantrum and knock a box off the wall behind you. Use it to climb up to the ledge.

For this part, Tentalus’ snake-like hair-tentacles will rush at you. Use regular sword strikes to hack through them. Once you clear away enough of them, there’ll be a lull in the attack.

Pull out your bow and hit Tentalus in the eye. They’ll fall forward again, and it’ll look like their hair-tentacles are blocking their eye. Don’t worry about them, and just keep pumping arrows into their eyeball.

After a lot of hits, you’ll defeat Tentalus.

Pick up the nearby Heart Container, and then hit the altar that appeared with a Skyward Strike to claim the flames of Nayru.

Fi will upgrade your sword to the Goddess White Sword, and tell you to return to the Isle of Songs.