Ocean tattoo ideas

186 photos and flash · 24% Realism, 24% Fine line · Forearm most common

What will it cost? Try the tattoo cost calculator
Colour realism tattoo across the upper arm and shoulder showing a sunset over the sea, palm trees, sharks, sea turtles, clownfish, anemones and coral.
Underwater sunset sleeve with turtles and clownfish
Black and grey pencil drawing of a jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, shown as a tattoo design on paper, realism style.
Jellyfish design in pencil shading
Black and grey realism tattoo of a surfer riding a curling wave above hibiscus flowers on the upper arm and shoulder.
Surfer riding a wave with hibiscus flowers
Black ink fine line tattoo of a wave inside a circle on the forearm, with stippled shading on pale skin.
Wave inside a circle on a forearm
Colour tattoo on a thigh of the cartoon starfish Patrick Star looking shocked in a sunset sea, framed by a rope border with a scallop shell and starfish below.
Patrick Star in a rope frame on a thigh
Fine line mermaid tattoo with flowing red hair, a shell top and a blue watercolour wash, shown on a limb.
Mermaid with red hair in watercolour wash
Teal and black Japanese-style wave tattoo on the inner wrist, shown from three angles in a collage with a small grey tattoo on another wrist.
Teal wave tattoo on a wrist
Small fine line dolphin tattoo with a pink fill on the lower back, above the waistband of blue jeans, with blue sky and sea behind.
Small dolphin tattoo on lower back
Black and grey Japanese-style wave tattoo covering the upper arm, with pale skin showing through the wave crests.
Japanese waves on an arm
Colour tattoo of three small green sea turtles swimming up the ankle, with small bubbles between them.
Three sea turtles on an ankle
Two matching circle tattoos on a pair of forearms, one showing a dotwork mountain range and the other a dotwork wave in a Japanese-inspired style.
Mountain and wave tattoos on forearms
Traditional colour tattoo of a surfer silhouetted against a sunset with palm trees, a wave and a bottle, framed by a rope border and banners reading Somewhere Over The Rainbow, with hibiscus flowers.
Surfer at sunset with hibiscus and banner
Colour realism tattoo of a great white shark breaching above waves and a second shark with open jaws beneath the surface, on the calf.
Great white sharks on a calf
Colour tattoo of a swimming sea turtle with orange plumeria flowers and blue waves, in a Neo-trad style on the upper back.
Sea turtle and plumeria in blue waves
Close-up of a small fine-line black wave tattoo with a Hokusai-style curl on the side of a person's ribs, under the arm.
Small wave tattoo on the side ribs
Fine line black outline world map tattoos on the soles of two bare feet, placed on the sole of each foot.
World map tattoos on both soles
Black linework tattoo of a breaking wave and three solid black palm trees on the outer ankle and heel.
Palm trees and wave on an ankle
Black ink drawing of a curling ocean wave inside an inverted triangle, with fine hatched linework and stippled spray.
Wave curling inside an inverted triangle
Before and after photo of a shark tattoo on an upper arm, with a faded black outline on the left and a colour realism cover-up on a teal ocean background on the right.
Shark shoulder cover-up, before and after
Colour tattoo on a forearm showing a breaching orca, pink plumeria, a pink hibiscus and sea turtles over blue water, shown in three side-by-side views.
Orca, plumeria and sea turtles on a forearm
Watercolour-style world map tattoo with outlined continents across the tops of both feet and up towards the ankles, in blended red, green, blue and yellow washes.
World map tattoo across both feet
Small whale tattoo in blue and grey ink on a forearm near the wrist, photographed against a dark background.
Small whale on a forearm
Black fine line tattoo of a curling wave flowing into the words into the sea in script, on the side of a foot near the ankle.
Wave and script reading into the sea on ankle
Black and grey fine line jellyfish tattoo with long trailing tendrils on the side of a person's abdomen, beside a navel piercing.
Jellyfish tattoo on the side of the stomach
Watercolour-style humpback whale tattoo in pink, green and blue on the upper back, with a pale blue wash suggesting water above it.
Humpback whale on upper back
Black fine line tattoo of a simple sailboat with curved sails on the inner ankle, shown in a close photo of skin.
Single-line sailboat on the inner ankle
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a curling wave with spray inside an outlined triangle, on the outer thigh.
Wave inside a triangle on the thigh
Five watercolour sea turtle designs in green, purple, blue and brown, arranged on a white background as tattoo flash.
Five watercolour sea turtles
Drawn tattoo design of a black whale tail rising from blue watercolour waves, with five black birds and a dotted pink circle, shown on a white background.
Whale tail, waves and birds design
Colour realism tattoo on a thigh showing a mermaid on a rock beneath a large yellow moon, with a blue underwater scene of fish and coral below the waterline.
Mermaid under a full moon on a leg
Black fine line outline tattoo of a world map on the side of a ribcage, photographed in a bathroom.
World map outline on ribs
Black and grey dotwork and blackwork tattoo of a wave and setting sun inside a circle on the forearm.
Wave and sunset in a circle on a forearm
Black and grey tattoo of stylised sea waves and rocks with dotted shading on the calf, with a green string anklet and grey canvas shoe.
Stylised waves and rocks on a lower leg
Black and grey pencil drawing of a jellyfish with a shaded, ridged bell and long flowing tentacles, shown on a cream background, in a realism style suited to a tattoo design.
Jellyfish pencil drawing
Colour tattoo of three blue dolphins arranged in a circle on the lower leg.
Three dolphins in a circle on a lower leg
Traditional style tattoo on the back of a hand showing a ship's wheel around green ocean waves, with a banner reading Home Sweet Ocean.
Ship's wheel and banner on the hand
Black and grey Japanese-style wave tattoo inside an inverted triangle on the forearm, with fine outlines and shaded water.
Wave inside an inverted triangle on a forearm
Fine line black wave tattoo on the side of a wet, tanned torso near the ribs.
Small wave tattoo on the side ribs
Two fine line black ankle tattoos on a beach, a small anchor on the left ankle and a palm tree on the right, with sea waves behind.
Anchor and palm tree ankle tattoos on a beach
Blue Japanese-style wave tattoo with white foam detail running down the inside of a forearm against a plain beige wall.
Blue wave tattoo on a forearm
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of rolling waves and a crescent moon inside a circle, placed on the outer ankle.
Waves and crescent moon in a circle on an ankle
Black and grey Japanese-style wave tattoo covering the upper arm and shoulder of a man in a grey vest top.
Japanese wave design on upper arm and shoulder
Fine line black arrow tattoo on the hip of a woman kneeling on a sandy beach in a blue swimsuit, photographed from behind.
Arrow tattoo on a hip at the beach
Colour tattoo of a green sea turtle with pink and purple plumeria flowers and blue wave shading on the outer thigh, in a neo-traditional style.
Sea turtle and plumeria on a thigh
Black and grey wave tattoo enclosed in a circle on a forearm, shaded with fine stippled linework.
Wave inside a circle on a forearm
Black and grey whale tail tattoo with dotwork shading and fine line waves, placed on the lower leg above a sock.
Whale tail above waves on a lower leg
Fine line white ink wave outline tattooed on the top of a bare foot near the ankle, resting on a grey concrete surface.
Wave outline on the top of a foot
Black and grey hand-lettered tattoo flash design of an anchor with rope and the words If my love were an ocean, there would be no more land, drawn on a sketchbook page, with no body part shown.
Anchor with hand-lettered quote design