Some areas should be avoided until you have more aggressive tools at your disposal. The Void, behind/in front of/far side of the Aurora, anything but the shallows around the Mountains, and the Dunes. That last zone, the PDA even warns you. Reapers make a distinctive wooshing sound in the distance; when you hear that, keep your head ona swivel and an escape route planned.

The radio should start giving new radio calls at some point; if not, explore some of the safer zones. Build a Cyclops, Prawn or both; they're much better equipped for exploring dangerous areas. The Prawn can take a lot of damage for its size and fight back to boot. The Cyclops, despite its size, can be hilariously stealthy at low speed.

I can't seem to find the parts for the cyclops. (kind of what I was hoping to find when I went near the Aurora) I have a Prawn but no upgrades to it. A lot requires materials that I have no idea where they may be and haven't seen. So I feel that I am aimlessly wandering. And just wasting time in an endless loop.

Originally posted by Captain Serious:

I can't seem to find the parts for the cyclops. (kind of what I was hoping to find when I went near the Aurora) I have a Prawn but no upgrades to it. A lot requires materials that I have no idea where they may be and haven't seen. So I feel that I am aimlessly wandering. And just wasting time in an endless loop.

You can use a map https://mapgenie.io/subnautica/maps/world
Use scanner room to scan for materials, read your PDA logs that will tell you information about resources.
Most blueprints are located inside large wrecks, so you what to go explore those. Except for cyclops. That one is spread around on the floor in the mushroom forest and at the back of the ship.

First, if something goes terribly wrong, you are free to load your previous save, but that of course is a matter of preference. Some like to save often and keep backups (you can copy and rename your saves without restrictions).

Second, a suitably upgraded Seamoth is perfect for exploring Reaper zones. Just push them away with a little zap when they approach for hugs.

Third, there is still plenty of core content left for you to explore. If you have doubts, try to go deeper. The cyclops is not a requirement to access the late game areas.

Fourth, external maps are super helpful, but beware of the heavy spoilers. The suggestion to use a scanner room will give you a more organic, yet very efficient sense of exploration for tech and materials.

Would be cool to be able to hire an insurance company. I would hide my vehicles and claim they were destroyed by leviathans.
Stonks!

Before going anywhere, you get ready, you fill your pockets with things you might need in the place you are going to explore, and then, just by the time you are heading out of your base, you seave the game. If anything unpleasant happens at some point, you just reaload. If you don't like the waste of time of this mechanic, either you don't let bad things happen or you go better prepared.
An unarmored Seamoth at 100% hull integrity can usually survive one such Reaper attack, but the damage will be enough that if grabbed a second time it will likely be done for. So you just don't be fooling around with hull integrity lower than 100%. Or upgrade your Seamoth to take more than one hit.
I don't understand why people keep loosing vehicles when it's so simple just not to.

Get wet

Originally posted by MADE IN IRON:

An unarmored Seamoth at 100% hull integrity can usually survive one such Reaper attack, but the damage will be enough that if grabbed a second time it will likely be done for. So you just don't be fooling around with hull integrity lower than 100%. Or upgrade your Seamoth to take more than one hit.

Unfortunately, there is no armor that protects against creature attacks. The hull reinforcement modules only protect against collision damage. Even if you equip four of them (and they do stack), the Seamoth will still be destroyed in two attacks from full health.

And BTW, DO NOT use the stasis rifle on a Reaper when it is in the middle of an attack animation on the Seamoth. This triggers a bug that extends that animation and will always result in the Seamoth being destroyed.

Yeah, it's annoying to lose a Seamoth, but I promise there are plenty of resources out there for another.

There are a couple places where vehicles can get destroyed or you can die if you mess around too long out in the open. Many places seem scarier at first than they actually are. IMO it adds to the atmosphere in the game, something not all games pull off very well.

Make scanner rooms, move them around, pick up everything. If all else fails, nobody will blame you if you look for what's next online.

You should keep going, it's worth it.

So my biggest complaint is lack of any indication of progression. I don't ever know if I completely did everything when I find something new. Example - The island with the Alien base. I went inside walked around pressed a button and got stuck in the arm saying I was contaminated. I think that I am supposed to figure out a "cure", but ♥♥♥ if I know what the game is expecting. I have read the PDA entries. I just wish there are more radio calls at least saying GO EXPLORE HERE.

Originally posted by Captain Serious:

So my biggest complaint is lack of any indication of progression. I don't ever know if I completely did everything when I find something new. Example - The island with the Alien base. I went inside walked around pressed a button and got stuck in the arm saying I was contaminated. I think that I am supposed to figure out a "cure", but ♥♥♥ if I know what the game is expecting. I have read the PDA entries. I just wish there are more radio calls at least saying GO EXPLORE HERE.

The PDA entry you get from that scan does give you the general locations and descriptions of 3 other facilities you need to find at various depths. It doesn't do a great job of telling you how to the find them, but the game because more linear once you start to reach the deepest biomes.

When in doubt go deeper

Originally posted by Dell Conagher:

When in doubt go deeper

That's what she said. Sorry I had to.

Thanks everyone. I think I am back in business with progress. I did read some pda entries that talked about downed pods, but they didn't auto beacon on the HUD. I had to start at the Aurora and spot the 1st pod, then going from there find others. Then I got another radio call. Finally.

It's reignited my desire to keep going.

It might be considered unfair, but the game expects you to explore the entire area around each beacon that it sends you to. Several of the lifepod signals you get (specifically 2, 12, 13, 17, and 19) are relatively close to areas that lead deeper. You wouldn't be able to go that deep when first exploring, so you just note it for later and leave a beacon. Then when you add the final depth module to the Seamoth (which should be after you visit Lifepod 19 and get rubies), you can go back and explore the depths.