Buried treasure is one of the best side activities in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, and veterans of the 2013 original will find plenty of surprises here. The remake has shifted island positions, redrawn clue maps, and added new content that changes where several chests land. There are 22 treasure maps total, each tied to a specific buried chest you cannot dig up without the corresponding map in your codex first.
How does the treasure map system work?
Every treasure map in Black Flag Resynced sits on a pirate skeleton somewhere in the world. Treasure maps are classified as secrets, so if a region shows undiscovered secrets on your map and you have at least one viewpoint synced, the treasure map icon will appear. Once a map is in your inventory, open your bag, navigate to the Treasure Maps tab, and study the clue. The drawing shows landmarks near the dig site, and coordinates help narrow things down. You cannot skip straight to the chest; the map must be in your codex first.
Beyond the standard maps found on corpses, there is also a Treasure Dealer shop in your Great Inagua hideout. This unlocks after you build the General Store and Tavern, then spend 5,000 Reales to construct it. The Treasure Dealer lets you restore torn map fragments (Preserved, Tattered, Digested, Weathered, and Yellowed) using Reales plus resources like tobacco, sugar, rum barrels, spices, or aloe. These restored maps lead to some of the best rewards in the game, including legendary outfits and sails.
Treasure Maps codex tab
All 22 treasure map locations
The list below covers every standard buried treasure, ordered roughly by when you are likely to encounter each map during a natural playthrough. Some chests are locked behind story progress, which is noted where relevant.
Cape Bonavista
You cannot grab this map on your first visit. Return after unlocking free sailing during the Now Hiring quest. Head inland toward the cliffs in the southwest to find the map in a tunnel leading to the Mayan Stele. The chest is in a dripstone cave on the southern beach; from the southern sync point, drop to the beach and turn right.
Havana
Both the map and the chest are in Havana, making this one of the more convenient pairs. The chest sits on the beach just in front of the barbican fortification wall.
Salt Lagoon (Abaco Island map)
Abaco Island is the first place you visit with Adewale after getting the Jackdaw, so you will pass through here early. The chest is on a different island entirely.
New Bone (Salt Lagoon map)
The tiny island north of New Bone has a windmill visible on the hill ahead when you enter the docks. The chest is to your right as you approach.
Abaco Island (Andreas Island map)
Andreas Island is where you meet Kidd for the Sugarcane and its Yields main quest, so you will be here for story reasons anyway.
Andreas Island (Mariguana Island map)
From the Mariguana Island dock, head southwest and pass through the flowery vines to find the cave opening. The chest on Andreas Island is behind two palm trees on the tiny southern landmass.
Nassau (Great Inagua map)
The map becomes accessible after clearing Great Inagua during the This Old Cove story mission. Follow the parkour trail up the cliffs from the docks, watching for vines with white flowers as a landmark.
Isla Providencia (Nassau Warehouse map)
Isla Providencia is locked until you reach the Marooned main quest. Once the island is accessible, the chest sits among three palm trees near the boat wrecks south of the sync point.
Isla Providencia buried chest
Anotto Bay (Havana Warehouse map)
To reach the chest, swim through the mine shafts into the pirates' den. The chest is directly beneath where the pirates are gathered, next to a stack of crates near the exit shaft.
Kingston (Misteriosa map)
The Misteriosa map sits in a small nook beneath a Mayan Stele on the south side of the large temple. The Kingston chest is in front of the barrels between two halves of a broken shipwreck.
San Juan (Santanillas map)
Climb the trees on the eastern edge of Santanillas to reach the skeleton on the hilltop. For the chest, dive past the jellyfish into the undersea cave entrance. Once inside the smuggler's camp, the chest is next to shovels beside the first two pirates you encounter, one of whom is named Alexander.
Petite Caverne (Cayman Sound map)
The map is next to some barrels on the Cayman Sound beach. In Petite Caverne, pass through the large cave chamber with boats inside, take the southwest exit, and look for the clearing on the right side near a dripstone formation and waterfall. There is a campsite nearby as a landmark.
Pinos Isle (Cumberland Bay map)
The corpse with the Cumberland Bay map is on a small sandbank near a rowboat. The Pinos Isle chest is on the ground directly to the right of the main Mayan temple when you face the structure.
Matanzas (Tortuga map)
The Tortuga map is on the beach near a boat that lets you fast travel back to the Jackdaw. In Matanzas, stick left past the soldiers to reach the beach with the rowboat, then look right for the Mayan Stele puzzle. The waterfall is directly to the left of it.
Tulum (Petite Caverne map)
The skeleton holding this map is tied to a post behind wooden crates and barrels in the smuggler's encampment. Tulum is on the far western edge of the map, so plan the sail accordingly.
Jiquey (Île à Vache map)
The Île à Vache map is between rocks on the northeast shore. Enter Jiquey from the north, follow the tunnel to the pirates, and the chest is near the wrecked dinghy at the end of the large chamber.
Cumberland Bay (Kingston Warehouse map)
Find the warehouse key in Kingston and plunder it to receive the map. The Cumberland Bay chest is near a shipwreck past the sync point.
Princípe (Port Royal map)
Princípe is story-locked until Sequence 09: Trust Is Earned. Once you reach the island, the chest is at the southernmost point of the eastern beach, southwest of the pier.
Cayman Sound (Pinos Isle map)
The Pinos Isle map is in the heavily guarded northern fortress, next to a large broken pillar. The Cayman Sound chest is between palm trees and a tree trunk on the northeast beach, just to the right of the Opía Apito Templar Hunt mission marker.
Ambergris Key (Corozal map)
Swim through the underwater cave entrance at Ambergris Key. When you surface inside the ruins, the chest nook is immediately to your left before you climb the large staircase where pirates are stationed.
Misteriosa (Ambergris Key map)
Grab this map immediately after collecting the Ambergris Key chest reward since they are in the same location. The Misteriosa chest is in the grass beside the serpent fountain pond.
Long Bay (Isla Providencia map)
This is the only treasure that rewards a weapon rather than Reales or a ship upgrade. From the Long Bay sync point, head west to the three huts, then look slightly south to find the dig spot.
Long Bay rare cutlass chest
Restored map pieces from the Treasure Dealer
Beyond the 22 standard maps, the Treasure Dealer in Great Inagua unlocks four restorable maps that lead to some of the most valuable rewards in the game. You need to construct the General Store, Tavern, and then spend 5,000 Reales to build the Treasure Dealer itself.
Preserved Map fragments come from looting warehouses in settlements like Havana, Cat Island, and Matanzas. Tattered Map fragments drop from Pirate Hunter frigates and men-of-war that appear when your Wanted Level climbs high enough; board them and open the Captain's Lockbox. Digested Map fragments are obtained by skinning white jaguars, with a reliable spawn point in the Great Inagua jungle near coordinates (825, 439). Weathered Map fragments are found inside the large locked chests in smuggler dens, including Petite Caverne, Jiguey, San Juan, Ambergris Key, and Anotto Bay.
The Yellowed Map requires 10 fragments obtained through Kenway's Fleet trade missions, making it the longest grind of the bunch. Trade missions using schooners in high-risk regions appear to offer the best chance at these fragments, though the reward is partially randomised on mission completion.
Treasure Dealer at Great Inagua
What rewards are worth prioritising?
Not all 22 chests are equal. The ultimate ship upgrade plans are the most immediately useful since they feed directly into the Jackdaw's combat power. After testing the upgrade chain across the full playthrough, the Harpoon Strength, Fire Barrel Strength, Heavy Shot Storage, and Mortar Storage plans from treasure chests fill gaps that are otherwise expensive to cover through standard ship upgrades.
Outfits like the Pirate Captain, Governor, and Crimson Cloak are cosmetic but count toward the full outfit collection. If you are going for 100% completion, tracking those down early saves backtracking later. For a full breakdown of what else feeds into completion, the AC Black Flag Resynced guide collection covers everything from Rifts to Data Files to sea shanties.
For players who want to knock out every secret in one efficient loop, pairing this treasure hunt with the all Data File locations guide makes sense since several Data Files and treasure maps share the same islands. Similarly, if you have not yet unlocked fast travel, getting that sorted first will save a lot of sailing time between chest locations. The fast travel unlock guide explains exactly how viewpoints and named locations feed into that system.