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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27905
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

If you need to convey specific information to the reader without resorting to an omniscient info-dump while staying in a third person POV your choices are indeed limited (pun intended).

Your MC can either discover that particular piece of information through their action (find what seems to be the McGuffin and see that it does not work as expected, so it is not the real one; find a book, a letter, a decaying ancient scroll with some partial info, etc.) or be told about it by another character.

Those are the devices at your disposal.

I must add though, that a conversation being held only to deliver the info _is the same info-dump_, only from a different narrator(s), and yes, it will be hard to make it sound natural.

What might work, however, is _prioritizing_ what exactly your readers must know so the story can proceed without breaking pace.

Is it the dietary preferences of the particular breed of seagulls, pooping over the crop, or the fact that _there is only one place the planet, where it grows_, which is more important to your plot?

I wager it's the latter--you cannot go on a quest if you do not know where to go. The rest of your worldbuilding can stay undiscovered. While it is very tempting to introduce it to the reader in its wonderful entirety, trust me, the readers do not care about crabs, birds, and how well done the last night honey-glazed bear steak was. They care about the story and not the recipes of all the food your characters eat.

Break the info into pieces, and let your character(s) discover _the important ones only_ as your story unfolds. Keep the rest and stick them in when the moment is right. Or never.

Original score: 3