Forest Layer Banandium Gem locations in Donkey Kong Bananza

The Forest Layer is the sixth layer in Donkey Kong Bananza and its home to the beloved flying ostriches and dreadful poison.

Of course, the Forest Layer is also full of Banandium Gems. To find all of the bananas on this layer, you’ll need to make use of your ostrich powers and cleanse the forest of its poison. Some of the bananas can be fairly easy to find, but most are hidden within trees, in poisonous waters, and inside challenge courses.

Below, we list where to find all of the Banandium Gems in the Forest Layer we’ve found so far. We’re still updating this guide with more golden bananas as we find them.

Sublayer 600 Banandium Gems

We’ve found 39 Banandium Gems in Sublayer 600 in the Forest Layer.

#1: Branched into the Forest Layer

This giant bunch of bananas is sitting on the woodland path waiting for you when you first arrive in the Forest Layer.

#2: Battle: Thorn-Forest Throwdown

Next to the Beaky Thicket tuning fork, there is a voided island. Destroy the void mechanism on the island to devoid the trunk of the tree. If you look back towards the tree, you’ll notice a little divot in the wall, which hides the Forest Layer Battle Challenge 1 behind it. Defeat the five squeeloids inside to get a Banandium Gem.

#3: View from Featherfall Isle

Behind the Beaky Thicket tuning fork, climb up to the giant tree (not the stump, but the full-grown tree behind it), and walk to the side of it to find a hole in the wall. Break through the wall and climb up. Walk across its branches to reach the Banandium Gem on the small platform at the other end, but be careful of the thorny enemies as you’ll need to use a terrain chunk to defeat them.

#4: Perched Where Branches Cross

From the spot you land onto the Forest Layer, climb the giant tree ahead and follow its branches. If you look closely, you’ll find a Banandium Gem hidden under a pile of leaves, but be careful of the two flying enemies nearby.

#5: Shifting above the Forest

Continue climbing the tree, and once you reach the top, you’ll see a shifty cube and a banana suspended above it. Grab a chunk of wood from the tree and hurl it at the shifty cube to turn it into a wooden platform. Then, grab the seed and throw it at the now-wooden platform to create a vine bridge that lets you reach the Banandium Gem.

#6: Under Featherfall Isle

After you cross to Featherfall Isle from the layer’s first island, walk ahead until you cross the thorn wall. Turn to the left to spot a banana hidden in a little sandy alcove.

#7: Battle: Seed to Succeed

Before you drop from the Beak-Leap Point tuning fork, you’ll notice a trunk ahead of you that has a battle challenge on top. Make your way over and enter the battle challenge to find two buzzoids inside. Defeat the buzzoids to get a banana.

#8: The Ostrich’s Back Snack

After you drop from the Beak-Leap Point tuning fork, turn left and climb the wooden ostrich to find a seed on top. Throw the seed at the wooden ostrich below to create a vine bridge over to the Banandium Gem.

#9: Branching over the Plains

Use the barrel cannon located above the Rockshade Getaway to reach the treetops above the thorns. Follow the branch path past the ostrich and past the second platform. At the end is a smaller platform with a Banandium Gem buried under some leaves.

#10: Hopped into Bellhop Burb

This banana is on the wooden ostrich that you use as a seed anchor to reach Bellhop Burb.

#11: Blasting through Brambles

Open the Bramble Country Ancient Ruin near the Bellhop Burb tuning fork, and make your way through the first half to get this gem.

#12: Back of the Brambles

This gem is in the background of the second barrel cannon challenge. At the top of the room is a set of four barrels, the bottommost of which automatically blasts you forward. None of the other three barrels point that way, though. To reach it, blast yourself into the topmost barrel, then press ZL to exit and angle your fall so you enter the bottom barrel.

This gem is at the end of the Bramble Country ruin challenge.

#14: Bird’s-Eye View on Bellhop Burb

Grab the seed next to the Bellhop Burb tuning fork, and throw it onto the ostrich in the poison lake to make a bridge to the gem.

#15: Forest Smashin’ Stats

Teeleport to the Bellhop Burb tuning fork and walk straight ahead to the Fractone balancing a few stones on its head. If you’ve cleared 30,000 cubic meters of thorns, it’ll give you a banana.

#16: Found in the Ostrich Flock

Climb up the ostrich monument above Bellhop Burb Getaway, and stop on the head of the first ostrich to your left. Use your sonar to spot the banana, then punch through to get it.

#17: Beneath Bellhop Burb

At the far end of Bellhop Burb, behind and under the yellow-green eggshell house, is a wall with a soft earth patch. Punch through it to open a tunnel that takes you to the gem.

Just beside the entrance to Banandium Gem #17, you’ll find a mud mound that is hiding the entrance to a battle challenge. In this challenge, you’ll have to defeat five Antickoids that are in little cubbies surrounded by mud and concrete barriers. Make use of your Bananza forms to break through the obstacles and overcome the terrain, so you can quickly deal with each bug.

At the base of the large tree beside the Bellhop Burb, you’ll find a turnip stuck in the mud. Uproot the turnip and jump into the hole to find this Banandium Gem

#20: Tiny Isle in the Wetlands

After you exit the Bellhop Burb, you’ll spot a tiny isle to the left of the eggshell surrounded by a void dome. Turf Surf across the poison lake or fly over using your Ostrich Bananza powers and dig into the mud mound to reach the banana.

#21: Shifty Smash: Crossing the Branch

Climb up the tree the muddy area beside the Bellhop Burb, and make your way to the far platform hanging over the poison lake to find the pyramid that starts the challenge. Before activating it, use the seed on the previous platform to make a bridge and cut out several seconds of climbing. Then, start the trial, make your way to the platform where the shifty blocks are, and demolish them before time runs out.

#22: Cranky’s Forest Rant

This banana is in the same tree as the previous one, which is the large tree in the muddy area beside the Bellhop Burb. Climb up the tree and head to the far platform hanging over the muddy swamp to find Cranky Kong.

Use your sonar ability beside the Big Tree Getaway, which can be unlocked near the base of the tree beside the Eggshell Hotel, to find a banana behind the wall. If you’ve purchased the getaway, you can walk through it and turn around the corner to find the banana. Otherwise, start smashing your way through the tree!

#24: Sleeping in the Big Tree

On top of the Big Tree, you’ll find a pile of sand with a ring of gold around it. Dig directly in the center to drop down into the tree trunk where a banana resides.

After you’ve climbed to the top of the Big Tree, continue to climb up the neck of the wooden ostrich. At the top, you’ll find a banana sitting on the wooden ostrich’s head.

#26: Checked in at the Eggshell Hotel

After you blast through the front door of the Eggshell Hotel, you’ll see a gem sitting on the front desk.

#27: Atop the Eggshell Hotel

Climb all the way to the top of the Eggshell Hotel and to find a banana at the peak.

#28: Lounge Lost and Found

Drop down to the next floor under the lobby and break down the door to find a thorny crockoid guarding a banana. Defeat them or run around them to collect it.

#29: Hangin’ in the Lounge

After you drop down to the floor under the lobby, stand on the barrel cannon and look up and to the right to see a banana on the ceiling. Along the wall, you’ll find a seed that is blocked off by thorns. Destroy the thorn wall and throw the seed at the wooden ceiling just behind the banana to create a bridge. Cross it to collect your banana.

On the floor with the pool, you’ll find a room with a seed and a half-broken wall. Completely tear down the wall to spot a wooden crockoid in the distance. Throw the seed at the crockoid to create a vine bridge and cross it to find a banana at the end of the path.

Make your way to the bottom floor of the Eggshell Hotel. Along the outer wall, you’ll find a door that is hiding the All-You-Can-Eat Tower Ruin. The next three bananas, including this one, will all be found in the challenge.

Head inside and follow the main path, but turn around before you reach the first gem on the main path. You’ll see a walled off pillar. Either use one of the snakes as a platform to reach it or do a chunk jump and you’ll find a gem hidden there.

#32: Scarfing the Scenery

Get to the midway point in the All-You-Can-Eat Tower and you’ll get a banana.

Finish the All-You-Can-Eat Tower and you’ll get a banana before you jump into the exit barrel.

On the bottom floor of the hotel, you’ll find a turnip hidden inside a ring of bushes. Uproot the turnip to find a hole that goes below the bottom floor of the hotel. Destroy the wooden wall to the side of the concrete crockoid to find a banana hidden behind it.

Inside the room with Bananadium Gem #34, look across the poisonous water to spot a wall of thorns. Destroy the thorns to find a hidden banana. Make your over by climbing along the walls or by surf surfing across the water to collect the Banandium Gem.

As you’re climbing up the big tree beside the Eggshell Hotel, drop down to the adjacent island to find a seed and a Constructone. Grab the seed and continue along the wood pathway to find the Thorn Hollow tuning fork. Look up to see a wood panel on the tree stump and throw the seed at it to make a bridge. Walk up to the top and either destroy the concrete or pull the turnip out of the top to find a seal. Destroy the seal to de-void the area and return to the tuning fork to find a banana lodged into the neck of the wooden ostrich.

#37: Tucked in Thorn Hollow

Once you’ve cleared the void around the Thorn Hollow tree, punch into it and jump down the hole to an area covered in thorns. When facing the gem locked behind a door, turn left. You’ll see a tangle of thorns on that side of the room. Break through them and you’ll find a gem barely sticking out of the sand in the corner of the room.

#38: Sealed in Thorn Hollow

In the Thorn Hollow, follow the thorny path, breaking through however you see fit until you reach the caged banana.

Banandium Gems 39-47 aren’t available on your first visit to the Forest Layer. We believe that you’ll need to return after you’ve progressed further or after you’ve beaten the main story of Donkey Kong Bananza.

#48: Forest Chip Exchange

Spend Banandium Chips and gold — depending on how often you’ve used the exchange before — to get this Banandium Gem from a Getaway concierge or from the layer’s brick-and-mortar Chip Exchange store.

Sublayer 601 Banandium Gems

We’ve found 23 Banandium Gems in Sublayer 601 in the Forest Layer.

After you land in Sublayer 601, turn around and punch a hole into the giant trunk to find this Banandium Gem.

#50: Plummeted to Mossplume Marsh!

After you land in Sublayer 601, you’ll find this Banandium Gem in front of you.

After you’ve drained the poison once, go back to the Mossplume Marsh tuning fork. Turn to the right and drop onto the sand below. Use your sonar slap to suss out the banana’s position under the sand, and dig down to it.

#52: Shifty Smash: Thwart the Thorns

This shifty challenge is found inside a broken egg house on your way to the very first poison plant. To complete the challenge, you’ll need to destroy a shifty block behind the thorn wall behind you. To make the challenge a little easier, we recommend destroying the thorn wall before starting, so you can easily hop from platform to platform. After you destroy the block, you’ll be rewarded with a gem.

#53: Beneath the Moving Platform

After you’ve destroyed the first poison plant and lowered the poison level once, turn around to find a moving metal platform below you. If you look underneath it, you’ll find a banana.

#54: Flying through the Sky

After you’ve lowered the poison level once, make your way to the Rubbery Roost tuning fork. When facing away from bouncy platforms, look to your left to spot the Ancient Ruins inside the blue egg house. Transform into your ostrich form and head inside the Ostrich Bananza: Flighty Feast challenge.

The first banana can be found half way through the course.

#55: Soaring through Space

To get this banana, you’ll need to clear away the concrete panel blocking the air vent. To do that, you’ll need at least one point in the Egg Bomb skill. Drop an egg bomb onto the concrete to release the air and ride it to find a banana on a floating platform.

#56: Gliding through the Heavens

The last banana in the challenge can be found just before the exit.

#57: Bounced into Rubbery Roost!

After you’ve lowered the poison level once, you’ll find the banana beside the Rubbery Roost tuning fork.

#58: Battle: Bouncing Bites

Defeat four crockoids in this bouncy challenge to get your banana. Slamming downwards on their long bodies will help take them out quickly, though you’ll need to punch upwards at the last one.

After you’ve lowered the poison level twice, head back to the bouncy platforms. Head under the bouncy platform with the two blue pyramids on it to find a cave with the Rubbery Roost Getaway. Inside the cave, you’ll find the tip of this banana sticking out of the ground.

From the Rubbery Roost tuning fork, turn towards the bouncy platforms to spot a tall stair-like structure in the distance. Bounce your way over to the staircase until you reach the step with the moving pyramid structure. While you’re in mid air, dive punch the ground to reach the highest level, where you’ll find a banana.

#61: Forest Hide-and-Seek

After you destroy the second poison plant, head underneath the bouncy platforms to find a Seekertone. This one is particularly annoying, but you’ll need to find all four Fractones on the bottom floor.

#62: Shifty Smash: Rubbery Roost

The shifty switch is at the far end of Rubber Roost, past where you destroy the void metal contraption. Once you activate it, you have to destroy a large block of shifty blocks before time runs out. The easiest way to do this is to stand on top of the shifty blocks and punch down to destroy the first layer. Then, you can ground pound while bouncing to mop up the rest.

#63: A View of Mossplume Marsh

Head to the building beside the Chip Exchange in Sublayer 600. Destroy the thorns and smash the ground to drop into an area with a stake and a few crockoids. Defeat the concrete crockoid to get a key which will unlock the seal. Hit the key and drop down into the Sublayer 601 to find a banana.

#64: Hangin’ in the Annex

Jump high by holding A on this rubber platform at the Eggshell Hotel Annex to climb on the ceiling. This path will lead you to a wall you can punch and break with the banana behind it.

The Bouncing for Bananas challenge course can be found on the bottom floor of the Eggshell Hotel Annex.

The first banana is just on the path as you complete the challenge course. Our recommendation for this course is to use small, controlled jumps, only holding down A for high jumps when you need to. You can also use Ostrich Bananza’s flutter ability to make this course much more manageable.

This banana is on a high rubber pillar that circles the above banana. You can either carefully jump from pillar to pillar, or you can cheese it a bit by jumping on one pillar and holding A to high jump, and then use Ostrich Bananza’s flutter to reach the top banana.

This banana is the reward for completing the Bouncing for Bananas course.

#68: Under the Rubber Pillar

Grab a chunk off of the nearby rubber Fractone and throw it at the shifty block under the banana. Jump higher by holding down A to smash the banana.

#69: Beyond Rubbery Roost

You’ll run into this banana as you progress through the story naturally, specifically after you cross a bunch of bouncy blue platforms.

#70: Battle: Three Across the Chasm

Throw the nearby pit seed on to the platform and pay the Constructone 600 gold to remove the blockage. Inside, use the pit seed to cross the bridge by throwing it at one of the wooden crockoids and then defeat all three of them. This can be done much easier by using Kong Bananza.

#71-72: Forest Fragmentone Recovery and Forest Fragmentone Restoration

After you’ve destroyed the third poison plant, look beside the large thorns in the poisonous water to find a small island with a Fragmentone. Make your way to the island to start a restoration mission.

We recommend to bring all three fragments back in one swoop, as you can use the pit seed to make your time a bit easier. Hop over to the island with the single fragment and grab the seed. Look between the thorns towards the island with the other fragments, and throw the seed at the wooden crockoid. Cross the bridge and bring the two fragments back over the same bridge.

Grab the seed again and throw it the original island, so you can reunite all of the fragments and collect your bananas.

Sublayer 602 Banandium Gems

We’ve found 10 Banandium Gems on Sublayer 602 in the Forest Layer.

#73: Waded into Bramblenest Bog!

You’ll get this banana bunch as part of the story when you drop in to Sublayer 602 for the first time.

This banana is in Challenge Course 5: Pit Seeds. You’ll need to enter the course from a blocked-off cavern entrance that you can smash open under Bramblenest Bog tuning fork.

Once you’re inside, turn around and throw a pit seed at the wood platform above, and then use a chunk to smash through the wall in front to get a banana.

#75: Tree-Pit Banana Balloons

Pop the five banana balloons in the Pit Seeds Challenge Course. While some of them are more obvious, there’s a slippier balloon under one of the platforms, as well as one inside the cylinder structure, so you’ll need to throw the seeds in a way that allows you to climb up the structure and inside the windows. Once you pop the balloons, this banana will be at the start of the course.

#76: Tucked behind the Tree

After you collect the five balloons, a barrel will appear that shoots you up back to the entrance. Set up the pit seed on the highest platform like in the image above, and then use the barrel to go back to the entrance. Carry the pit seed at the entrance to the highest platform, cross the vine bridge, and throw the pit seed across the way, allowing you to smash the banana. You can likely brute force this with other methods, but this was the easier for us.

#77-79: The Forest Growtone, The Hungry Forest Growtone, The Sated Forest Growtone

After you teeleport to the Bramblenest Bog tuning fork, turn to the right to find a getaway and the Growtone above it. Feed the Growtone a total of 3,000 gold to earn all three bananas.

#80: Dazzling Ostrich Headwear

Head over to the wooden ostrich that has a thorny necklace. Using Ostritch Bananza, throw chunks at the shifty blocks to create platforms to jump and flutter to. This banana is the reward for crossing that gap.

#81: Battle: Updraft Uproar

This combat challenge is inside the large wooden house on Sublayer 602. Break through the wall to find the battle course. Transform into your ostrich form to jump in and take out the four munchoids to get your banana.

#82: Nested inside the Roots

Clear the red vines using chunks to unblock the fan circled on the map above and then use Ostrich Bananza to glide up to the platform. Glide across and smash open the wall to get this banana.

#83: Roosted in a Thorny Nest

This banana is sitting on a platform by the sinkhole. If you haven’t cleared the story portion for the Forest Layer, it may be surrounded by thorns (thus the name).

Monkeying around in Donkey Kong Bananaza? We have guides to help you plow through this collectathon, including where to find Banandium Gems on Canyon Layer, The Divide Layer, and Freezer Layer. We also have guides on all of the amiibo rewards and explainers on the skill tree and layers.