Dive into the wonderful world of origami sea creatures! From the ocean floor to sandy beaches and even the sky above, this collection brings the marine environment to life through paper folding.
Whether you’re a beginner or experienced folder, you’ll find projects that capture the beauty and diversity of sea life. Let’s explore these 18 designs that will transform your desk into an ocean paradise!
While our Origami Sea Creatures world is captivating, there’s so much more to explore! The Insect Origami collection is a delightful gathering of tiny creatures. Origami Birds let you soar through endless skies, and Animal Origami takes you on a journey from ancient rainforests to African savannas. Along the way, beautiful Origami Flowers add the perfect touch to your paper adventure.
Looking for something simple? Our Easy Origami page features beginner tutorials. Browse everything quickly on the Origami Instructions page, your complete guide to all OrigamiOK projects.
Quick Preview of Origami Sea Creatures
1. Origami Crab
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: 15*15 cm
Difficulty: Easy
Crabs are fascinating creatures that scuttle along ocean floors and beaches. With their distinctive sideways walk and powerful claws, they’re a must-have for your paper ocean collection.
This origami crab uses a 15×15 cm square and takes just 19 steps to complete. The design captures the crab’s wide body and claws perfectly. Don’t forget to add eyes at the end—they really bring your crab to life!
2. Origami Fish
Who doesn’t love colorful tropical fish? Those bright little swimmers that dart between coral reefs add vibrant life to any ocean scene.
We’re featuring two fish designs here. The Origami Tropical Fish is perfect for beginners—just 9 simple steps and you’ll have a triangular fish ready to swim.
If you’re looking for something more realistic, try the classic origami fish design. It’s a bit more complex with 19 steps, but creates a more detailed fish that pairs wonderfully with the crab we just made.
3. Origami Jellyfish
Folding time: 20 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
Jellyfish are among the ocean’s most elegant creatures, floating gracefully through the water.
This beautiful design captures their ethereal quality using a 15×15 cm square. The 25-step process might seem challenging, but the result is worth it—especially those 9 curled tentacles that give the jellyfish its distinctive flowing appearance.
Place it near your origami fish to create an underwater scene!
4. Origami Octopus
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
The octopus is one of the smartest creatures in the sea, with eight arms and amazing problem-solving abilities.
Our origami octopus needs 24 steps to complete using a 15×15 cm square. The key to this model is adding round eyes at the end—they give your octopus personality and charm.
5. Origami Seahorse
Folding time: 10 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Easy, Beginner friendly
Seahorses are unique creatures with their horse-like heads and curled tails.
This beginner-friendly design requires a 15×15 cm square and 24 steps to complete. I’ve optimized the tail folding process to make it simpler than the original design, so you won’t struggle with what’s usually the most challenging part.
This seahorse looks great swimming alongside your origami fish.
6. Easy Origami Shark
Folding time: 8 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Easy, Beginner friendly
Sharks are the ocean’s top predators, streamlined and powerful. This easy shark design is perfect for beginners, requiring just 13 steps with a 15×15 cm square.
The result is a flat shark that captures the distinctive shape—don’t forget to draw eyes to complete the look! It’s the quickest sea creature in our collection, making it perfect when you want to add a predator to your paper ocean without spending too much time.
7. Sticky Note Origami Shark
Folding time: 20 minutes
Paper: 7.5cm x 7.5cm
Difficulty: Middle
Ready to level up your shark-folding skills? This design uses a small square paper (sticky note size works perfectly) and creates a much more detailed shark than our easy version. Taking 26 steps to complete, this shark still maintains a flat profile but shows much more character.
It pairs well with our smaller fish designs and makes a good intermediate step before attempting our 3D shark.
8. Origami Shark
Folding time: 30 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
Now for the ultimate shark challenge! This 3D shark design accurately displays every detail of a shark’s body, from the pointed snout to the distinctive fins. Using a 15×15 cm square, this 35-step process creates a truly impressive model that stands out from the flatter designs we’ve covered so far.
Display this shark as the centerpiece of your origami ocean—the other sea creatures better watch out!
9. Origami Cute Whale
Folding time: 20 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
Whales are gentle giants of the ocean, and this adorable design captures their charm with a stylized approach.
Unlike realistic whale designs, this model features a square head that gives it an especially cute appearance. Using a 15×15 cm square, the 39-step process creates a whale that’s full of personality. It makes a playful addition to your paper ocean alongside the more realistic creatures.
10. Origami Whale
Folding time: 20 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
This whale design captures a whale in the distinctive position of surfacing to breathe—with its massive head breaking through the water’s surface.
Using a 15×15 cm square and 27 steps, this model shows a different aspect of whale behavior than our cute whale design. Place them together to show different whale types or behaviors in your origami ocean scene!
11. Origami Sea Turtle
Folding time: 20 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
Sea turtles are ancient mariners that glide effortlessly through the ocean. This detailed design requires a 15×15 cm square and 44 steps to complete, making it one of our more complex models.
The result captures the distinctive shell and flippers of these magnificent creatures. It makes a challenging but rewarding addition to your growing collection of sea animals.
12. Origami Turtle
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
If the sea turtle was too challenging, this simpler turtle design offers a great alternative. Using a 15×15 cm square, you’ll need just 19 steps to create a recognizable turtle. While not as detailed as the sea turtle version, it still captures the essential turtle shape and is much more approachable for intermediate folders. Try both designs to see which you prefer!
13. Dollar Bill Origami Turtle
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: A dollar bill
Difficulty: Easy
This clever design uses a dollar bill to create a turtle where the portrait on the bill becomes the shell pattern! It’s truly a brilliant piece of design work that requires 23 steps to complete.
The rectangular shape of currency creates different proportions than our square-paper turtles, making this a unique addition to your collection. Plus, it’s a great conversation starter when guests see your origami display!
14. Origami Dolphin
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
Dolphins are known for their intelligence and sleek, streamlined bodies. This excellent design perfectly captures their graceful form using a 15×15 cm square and 25 steps. The result shows the dolphin’s curved body and distinctive features. It pairs perfectly with the whales we’ve already folded, showing different marine mammals that share the ocean.
15. Easy Origami Penguin
Folding time: 5 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Easy, Beginner friendly
Moving from ocean swimmers to ocean birds, this penguin design is the simplest in our collection. Using a 15×15 cm square, you’ll need just 14 steps to create a flat penguin representation.
It’s perfect for beginners or when you need a quick addition to your paper menagerie. While it’s simple, it clearly shows the penguin’s distinctive black and white coloring (if you use two-colored paper).
16. Origami 3D Penguin
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Easy, Beginner friendly
This adorable 3D penguin design resembles a baby penguin with its round belly. Using a 15×15 cm square and 15 steps, you’ll create a penguin with more dimension than our easy version. The rounded form gives it a cuddly appearance that contrasts nicely with the sleeker ocean creatures we’ve been making.
17. Origami Penguin
Folding time: 15 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm
Difficulty: Middle
This is my personal favorite penguin design. It’s remarkably realistic and—best of all—it can stand on its own! With 28 steps using a 15×15 cm square, you can create adult penguins with larger paper or adorable penguin chicks with smaller squares. Try making a family of different sizes to create a penguin colony for your paper ocean scene!
18. Origami Seagull
Folding time: 20 minutes
Paper: 20×20 cm
Difficulty: Advanced
Designer: Riccardo Foschi
Finally, we reach the skies above our ocean with this magnificent seagull design. Seagulls are the quintessential coastal birds, soaring over beaches and diving for fish. This advanced model requires a slightly larger 20×20 cm square and takes 40 steps to complete. The result is a seagull with wings outstretched in flight—a perfect addition to hover above your paper ocean scene.
Ready to Create Your Own Origami Ocean?
Now you have 18 amazing sea creatures to fold and display! I encourage you to try folding these designs with different types of paper to create various effects. Patterned paper can add scales to fish, texture to turtle shells, or feathers to seagulls. Metallic papers create shimmering fish that catch the light like real scales, while translucent papers make beautiful jellyfish.
Start with the easier designs and work your way up to the more challenging ones. Before long, you’ll have a complete origami ocean paradise decorating your space! Which sea creature will you fold first?
