Wave tattoo ideas

1,081 photos and flash · 24% Japanese, 20% Fine line · Forearm most common

What will it cost? Try the tattoo cost calculator

Black line drawing of a Japanese shishi lion with peonies and swirling waves, styled as a tattoo design on paper, with no body placement shown.

Japanese shishi lion with peonies and waves

Full arm sleeve tattoo in black and grey shading with pink flowers, showing a ship wheel, waves and a 'of the Sea' banner on the upper arm and forearm.

Ship wheel sleeve with waves and script

Black and grey neo-traditional tattoo of a woman's face framed by swirling hair and pearl strands, covering the upper arm and shoulder.

Woman portrait with pearls on upper arm sleeve

Four small black sea turtles in a diagonal line with faint wave shading on the upper back near the shoulder blade.

Four sea turtles across upper back

Watercolour illustration of four element symbols labelled air, fire, earth and water, each drawn with a spiral or flowing motif in blue, orange, green and blue respectively.

Four element symbols in watercolour

Black and grey flash design of a Polynesian-style turtle with shaded flowers, leaves and curling wave lines, drawn as a tattoo design.

Polynesian-style turtle with flowers and waves

Small circular tattoo on the top of a foot near the toes, with its left half filled with blue wavy lines and its right half drawn as a plain outline.

Blue wave circle on the foot

Colour Japanese style tattoo of a tiger and pink lotus flower with blue waves on the outer thigh of a woman's leg.

Tiger and lotus on a thigh

Black tribal tattoo with two horizontal blue wave bands in the centre, sitting on the lower back.

Tribal swirl with blue waves on lower back

Colour tattoo of purple and red chrysanthemums with green leaves and grey shading across an upper arm and shoulder, with a real butterfly resting on the flowers.

Purple chrysanthemum tattoo on upper arm

Black and grey dotwork tattoo on a calf showing a circular night scene with a moon, a flying figure, clouds, mountains and a sailing ship on water.

Night sky landscape with ship on a calf

Traditional black and grey rose tattoo with bold outlines and stippled shading across the back of a shaved head neck, with a snake and wave tattoo below on the upper back.

Black and grey rose on the back of the neck

Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a palm tree on a small stippled island, placed on the side of the ribs.

Palm tree on a small island on the ribs

Black and grey circular tattoo of a curling wave with dotwork shading, on a forearm.

Hokusai-style wave in a circle on a forearm

Fine line black tattoo on a forearm showing a wave, pine tree and mountain above an arrow marked 49 degrees and an anchor.

Wave, tree, mountain, arrow and anchor on forearm

Black line drawing of a curling wave flowing into the script words 'into the sea', a fine line lettering tattoo design on a white background.

Wave swirl with 'into the sea' script

Fine line black and grey geometric tattoo of a curling wave, mountain peaks and overlapping circles on a forearm.

Wave and mountains geometric forearm tattoo

Black and grey engraved tattoo of a sailing ship in a bottle with waves and a sun, on the calf.

Ship in a bottle on the calf

Fine line black tattoo of a curling wave inside a circle on the inner forearm, with stippled dots in the spray.

Wave inside a circle on a forearm

Fine line black tattoo of a heartbeat trace that turns into a wave, sitting across the upper chest below the collarbone.

Heartbeat line with wave on upper chest

Blue ink drawing of a traditional sailing ship in heavy waves, with a curling banner on the left reading LOVE IS LIKE A TIDE BRINGING YOU HOME, intended as a tattoo design.

Sailing ship and banner design

Green-tailed mermaid tattoo in soft grey shading across a woman's upper and mid back, with rocks and waves below her tail.

Mermaid tattoo across a back

Abstract watercolour-style tattoo, a tall band of blue, pink, orange and teal, running down the spine from the nape of the neck across the upper back.

Vertical colour strip down the spine

Black and grey realism tattoo of a lighthouse in a stormy sea on the chest, with a sailing ship on the upper arm and shoulder.

Lighthouse in a storm on chest and ship on arm

Black and white tribal flash design of spirals, wave bands and triangles, drawn to fit a full arm sleeve.

Black tribal sleeve design with spirals

Black and grey engraved-style tattoo of a sailing ship under stars, with waves, clouds and the date 1872 beneath, on the upper arm.

Sailing ship and 1872 on upper arm

Black and grey photo of a Hebrew lettering tattoo on the inner forearm, with a bold black wavy line rising to an arrowhead above the text.

Hebrew lettering with a wavy line on the wrist

Colour tattoo of three stacked arrowheads over a dotted circle with orange watercolour washes and teal wave lines, on the outer thigh.

Three arrowheads over a watercolour circle

Two matching forearm tattoos: a watercolour feather with script and flying birds on the left, and a black and grey anchor with rope, birds and script on the right.

Feather and anchor matching forearm tattoos

Small fine line black wave tattoo on the outer side of a foot near the heel.

Wave tattoo on the side of a foot

Five views of a colourful traditional style full sleeve tattoo on an arm, showing a mermaid, a shark, sailing ships, a castle and fish in a sea scene.

Under-the-sea full sleeve tattoo

Black and grey fine line tattoo of a palm tree, waves and birds inside a dotted-edge inverted triangle, on the side of a person's ribs.

Palm tree and waves in a triangle on the side ribs

Small blue wave tattoo with white highlights in a Japanese-influenced style, placed on the upper back between the shoulder blades.

Blue wave on upper back

Black tribal band tattoo in Polynesian-style patterns wrapping a forearm, with wave, chevron and checkerboard bands.

Polynesian-style bands on a forearm

Colour traditional tattoo of a pirate ship with a skull and crossbones sail, red flags and green waves across an upper arm.

Pirate ship and skull on upper arm

Colour Japanese style tattoo on an upper arm showing a crane in flight, a red sun, grey clouds, waves and orange and red maple leaves.

Crane, red sun and clouds on an upper arm

Black and grey Japanese style sleeve tattoo on a forearm, showing a foo dog, an oni mask, a skull, a pagoda and swirling clouds.

Japanese sleeve with lion, oni and pagoda

Black ink sailing ship tattoo on the upper back of a woman with her hair pinned up, in a traditional style.

Sailing ship tattoo on upper back

Black ink design of a shark fin rising above two wavy lines, with a stippled fill, shown on a plain white background.

Shark fin above waves

Small fine line tattoo of a curved wave on the inner wrist, partly covered by stacked beaded bracelets and a cowrie shell cuff.

Fine line wave tattoo on a wrist

Black and grey realism tattoo of a lighthouse in a storm with rays of light and crashing waves, covering the inner forearm, shown from two angles.

Lighthouse and storm waves on a forearm

Fine line and dotwork tattoo of a moon with stars, small clouds and wavy sea lines on the upper arm.

Moon, clouds and waves on upper arm

Large realism tattoo on a person's back showing a woman's face framed by a feathered wing, red cherry blossom, lotus flowers and Japanese-style waves.

Realist woman portrait with lotus on a back

Japanese-style wave tattoo with pale outlines over solid black ink, running along a forearm.

Stylised waves on a forearm

Elephant silhouette with landscape fill on ribs

Two black and grey fine line tattoos inside outlined triangles on the lower leg: a Hokusai-style wave on the left and pine trees with birds on the right.

Wave and pine trees in triangles on lower legs

Black and grey wave tattoo with curling crest inside an inverted triangle outline on the inner forearm, in a Japanese-inspired style.

Wave inside an inverted triangle on a forearm

Small black fine line sailboat tattoo on the inner wrist, with the hand raised in front of a nautical chart.

Tiny sailboat on the inner wrist