Abstract: The bucket foundation of breakwater is a new type of structure applied in port and coastal engineering, the stability of which is sustained by the bucket foundation penetrated in soft soil. The calculation of earth pressure on the bucket foundation is the key content of examination for structure stability. A 3D elasto-plastic finite element model is established to analyze the magnitude, vertical and circumferential distribution of earth pressure on bucket foundation under different wave load according to a practical project. Besides, the earth pressures calculated by the finite element method in the limit state are compared with the earth pressure at rest, active and passive earth pressures. According to the displacement mode of bucket foundation, the distribution areas of earth pressure are divided into three regions, i.e., active, passive and static regions. The simplified calculation methods of earth pressures for different regions are suggested. The results can be used to check computations of stability for the bucket foundation of breakwaters.