Much like our very own planet, a majority of your Minecraft world is made up of large swaths of oceans that are just begging to be explored. While collecting buried treasure and exploring shipwrecks is certainly rewarding, it can be nice to have a home or base to call home in these dangerous depths.

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Minecraft: 8 Tips For Building An Underwater House
If you’ve ever wanted to live under the sea in Minecraft then this underwater building guide is for you.
Thankfully, numerous content creators have gone out of their way to create different tutorials that guide you through the challenging process of constructing a base under the ocean. If you are willing to take on this challenge, then check out the list below to get some building inspiration.
Updated January 23, 2025 by Jacqueline Zalace: Building underwater in Minecraft can be exciting, especially if you are in a biome like the Coral Reef. We’ve updated this list with a few more underwater build ideas for you to check out, ranging from modern to fantastical.
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Underwater Survival Base By ItsMarloe
Building underwater can be pretty tricky, as you have to contend with the game’s breathing mechanics and constantly save yourself from drowning. While more experienced players may have high-level gear to get around these constraints, you can still construct a smaller home without worrying too much about the dangerous building conditions.
A great example of this would be a small survival base, as these structures usually are built early on in your playthrough and serve as a jumping point for more intricate builds in the future. ItsMarloe’s build is just a singular room made out of wood, stone bricks, and glass that offers you complete views of your surroundings and a safe spot to rest while you explore the depths of the sea.
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Ocean Floor Base By Shulkercraft
If finding pockets of air to breathe while building just seems too stressful for you, then you can always dig straight down on the ocean floor and clear out any water by placing a block between you and the ocean. This will create a safe area to breathe under the ocean floor, which can then be expanded and turned into a survival base similar to something you can construct on land.
If you can grab some sponges from an Ocean Temple they’ll make clearing the water out much faster. Just place them down to soak it up, then dry them out in the nether and repeat.
This base is relatively easy to build, but it does not offer much of an underwater aesthetic, so we recommend sprucing up the place by including prismarine blocks. Furthermore, you can even build the entire ceiling out of glass blocks, so you can look up at the ocean from the safety of your base.
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Underwater Mountain Base By Zaypixel
Although this underwater base is somewhat similar to the previous entry, Zaypixel’s build requires you to find a pretty steep mountain in the overworld before venturing underwater. As you swim deeper and deeper, make sure that this mountain range continues underwater, as you’ll be carving into the mountainside to build this home.

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The most important aspect of this particular base is the large glass window that looks out on the ocean. This will not only provide natural light and a quick way to exit the house, but also completely open up the space, thus preventing it from feeling cramped.
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Sloped Underwater House By ManDooMiN
ManDooMiN’s Sloped Underwater Home is the perfect option for those who can not decide between living on the land or in the water. Specifically, this house is essentially a massive sloped triangle that uses glass to showcase just how deep the house reaches.
While the upper portion of this house, in this instance the bedroom, opens up to the overworld, the lower portion is built deep enough to be completely encased in water. Then, all you need to do is create two separate exits that can be used to travel underwater or on land respectively.
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Modern Underwater House By Folli
Just because you may be miles deep in the ocean does not mean you should skimp out on luxurious living. Just take Folli’s modern underwater house as an example, as it provides all the amenities and aesthetics of modern living while also providing a safe area to live under the sea.
You can also clear water by using sand or gravel. Drop it onto a water source block to clear it then dig it back up. Just make sure the sand or gravel isn’t directly next to another water block, or it will just refill.
Before you decide to build this base, make sure you head to the nether and collect a massive amount of quartz, as you will need the materials to make hundreds of different quartz blocks. If you are building closer to the surface then we recommend starting with the towers of the building, as you can ensure that they are free of any water.
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Coral Base By fWhip
Although they can be hard to come across, a coral reef biome provides striking beauty and a great place to construct a smaller survival base. The best part about a coral biome is the various sea pickles that provide underwater light and colorful unique blocks that dot the landscape, so it is important not to completely remove the natural wonder when you decide to start construction.
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Just look at fWhip’s coral base, as he uses quartz and prismarine to provide an unobtrusive color palette to the entire structure, thus allowing the colorful coral to truly shine. Furthermore, we recommend building around large coral outcroppings instead of cutting them down, since it will create a fun layout for your home.
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Deep Ocean Pods By MadenPlay
If you’re planning to settle on the very bottom of the ocean, then creating multiple pods or spheres is a great way of distinguishing different rooms in your underwater base. Specifically, MadenPlay created an oceanic base at the very bottom of the sea, which is made out of stone and some small glass windows.
After you build some of these rooms, you can connect these chambers with thin hallways that can also double as extra storage spaces. Furthermore, since this build is modular you can always come back at a later time and continually expand the base with similar pods.
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Underwater Base By Amelytra
While this build is also mainly made out of pods or spheres, Amelytra’s underwater base takes it a step further, as the entire structure is made almost completely out of glass. Instead of building this in the depths of the ocean, we recommend constructing this base just off the coast, so you can ensure that there is an elevator that leads to the surface.
Instead of making smaller pods, this build will require you to carefully construct large glass spheres, which can be one of the hardest things to build in a blocky game like Minecraft. If you are going to partake in this challenge, then you should seriously get a pickaxe with silk touch, so if you misplace any glass blocks you can easily pick them back up without breaking them.
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Ocean Monument Base By SmallishBeans
This isn’t quite a tutorial, but you can really get the sense of the layout by watching.
Ocean monuments can be quite daunting, but if you manage to find one, you can turn it into a base! This can be done two different ways. Firstly, you can keep it submerged and rely on air pockets (or small, water-free rooms), or completely remove water from the surrounding area.
SmallishBeans picked the latter of the two options, going for a water-free area that ends up feeling quite magical. While it isn’t quite underwater, it definitely gives off an underwater ruin vibe. Of course, removing all of this water can be a long process, so get started now!
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Simple Underwater Base By Fedo
Following in line with bases that aren’t quite underwater, we have this simple underwater base by Fedo. This unique modern build is, well… simple. You can find all the basics here, without going too overboard in terms of design.

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The room itself is underwater, but with an exposed surface, you’ll be able to appreciate the build from any angle. If you want to expand downward, you can even create a ‘pillar’ of sorts. Overall, this would be a great smaller base to serve as a ‘checkpoint’ when traveling.
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Ultimate Underwater Base By Lomby
Last but not least, we have the ultimate underwater base by Lomby. This tutorial will guide you through a step-by-step process into making a base that nestles right on the sea floor. What’s more, Lomby even takes us through the interior process, which is perfect for those who struggle to fill the insides of bases.
Overall, this base perfectly marries practicality and aesthetics. It’s not overly complicated, but it contains all you need to survive and thrive in Minecraft. The tutorial even takes you through the process of creating a mining elevator, which is always needed in order to stock up on resources.