Subnautica - SCUBA, Unknown Worlds, drowning

In terms of typical progress, when should I be aiming to build out my base with vehicles, etc. vs. progressing with the story arc?

I got the Seaglide and a barebones base going but not much else and the story bits is starting to either requiring items I don’t have (i.e. a laser cutter to get inside the Aurora) , or go much further down than what I can probably survive for (e.g. 250m deep).

Needing to find all of these random fragments is a bit of PITA…