Two things to note. The Arch in the Sea Emperor's hab is near a wreck that might spawn in before you realize if you leave with the Prawn Suit. I lost one to the wreck appearing around me.

And the arch leading to the Bulb Zone actually sits on a small shelf overlooking the long easy sloping entrance to the Lost River/Lava Zone area. Also that area has quite a lot of large prawn accessible resource nodes.

The food bars in the Aurora are nice but Salted Reginald and Large Water will keep you going forever.