Bugsnax has quite a few secrets to uncover across its many zones and biomes. Some secrets can only be uncovered by completing certain side missions, while others are right out in the open, waiting to be discovered — if you know where to look.
One of the best secrets you can find in Bugsnax is the shortcut between Boiling Bay and Sizzlin' Sands. Because of the way zones are laid out in Bugsnax, getting from one side of the world to the other can be a real pain. In particular, the second biome on each end: Boiling Bay in the beach biome, Sizzlin' Sands in the desert biome, Flavor Falls in the forest biome, and Frosted Peak in the winter biome — can really leave you stranded from the rest of the map.
Luckily, there's a short cut that connects at least two of these distant zones together. With this short cut, you won't have to double back through Scorched Gorge, Snaxburg, and Simmering Springs just to go between Boiling Bay and Sizzlin' Sands. There's is actually a path that connects the two zones together.
The shortcut is very well hidden, however, and you may not have even realized it's there unless you look in the trophies. Luckily, there's a trophy awarded for finding the secret and opening the path.
There are two ways to open the shortcut, either from the Boiling Bay side or from the Sizzlin' Sands side. The Sizzlin' Sands solution is the simpler one, so head there.
When you enter Sizzlin' Sands, hug the left wall and follow it back to the corner where you'll find four statues of bombinos facing different directions.
Interaction with the statues will cause each one will drop down into the sand, but there is a specific pattern they need to be activated in. You'll notice each of the statues in the image above is facing another statue, while one is facing away from the rest.
All you need to do is activate the statues in order of sightline, ending with the one looking away. In the above image, you would activate back left, front right, front left, and finally back right. If you've done it currently you will hear a jingle and a door will appear on the mound of sand to the right. That door leads to a tunnel that will take you to Boiling Bay.
If you're coming from the Boiling Bay side, you can open the secret tunnel by solving a slightly different puzzle. In the lava cave, against the wall, there are four statues that look like cocomites. You'll notice that each of the statues has a different number of straws sticking out of the front. All you need to do is activated them in ascending order from one to four, starting with the statue that only has one straw.
As far as we know, this is the only shortcut between two zones in Bugsnax. To get anywhere else, you'll need to head back to Snaxburg first. If any more secret paths are discovered we will update this guide.