After the optional mission "Can You Dig It?" at Bikanel Island in Chapter 1,
you’ll have the capability of returning to the Excavation Site there to
participate in further digs. You’ll only have access to the Western Expanse and
the Southern Expanse during Chapter 1. In Chapters 2 and 3, you will gain access
to the Eastern and Northern Expanses. The Central Expanse won’t be available
until Chapter 5, and is only accessible via chocobo. To access it, you have to
have sent and lost a chocobo from the Chocobo Ranch there at some point in the
game. You’ll have access to the Oasis at every point of the game with the
exception of Chapter 4. It’s a good idea to go there fairly often, as treasure
chests will show up more often than not.
There are a variety of reasons that digging at Bikanel Island is profitable.
First of all, it’s a pretty steady way to make money, since you can get anywhere
from 100 to 300 gil per dig. You can also apply for raises as you dig by
visiting the Machine Faction Headquarters at Djose Temple. Just go to the room
on the right of the stairs and examine the console on the right. Answer all the
questions it asks by choosing the responses indicating that you love digging
more than life itself. Second, it’s the main way to obtain Al Bhed Primers,
which teach you letters of the Al Bhed language. Third, you will most likely
find some rare Sphere Break coins, which will provide you with an advantage in
future Sphere Break matches at Luca. Most importantly, the required parts you
need to successfully complete each dig go toward completing the Experiment that
the Machine Faction is working on at Djose Temple. Once you’ve obtained enough
parts from digging, you’ll be able to see how you stack up against it in battle.
Digging strategy is fairly simple. Just observe the following guidelines and you
should successfully complete your digs just about every time:
• Go for the yellow X on the map first if it is immediately visible. If you are
digging alone it will free you up to go after other treasure. It’s especially
important to go after it right away if there is another digger, since they’ll be
gunning after it as well. Remember, no yellow X means no money.
• Don’t wander off too far from the hover. Even if the yellow X is really far
away, if you’ve spent too much time looking for it and you get it, you won’t get
credit for it if you don’t make it back to the hover within 60 seconds.
• If you want to use your time to the fullest, have a Charm Bangle equipped. It
will eliminate any random enemy battles. It won’t keep you from being ambushed
by monsters at treasure spots, but it will cut down significantly on your travel
time.
• Once in a while you’ll get ambushed by a rather large fiend called Angra
Mainyu. He’s easy enough to fight, but he’ll eject your party from the battle
after taking a certain amount of damage. Don’t worry too much about it, though.
You’ll be able to finish things with Angra Mainyu in Chapter 5.
