Abstract: In view of the characteristics of teaching naval architecture and ocean engineering fluid mechanics, this paper puts forward a kind of heuristic teaching mode: "interests-research-exploration". In this teaching mode, the "interests" are taken as the drive, the "research and application" are taken as the support, and "exploring the unknown" is taken as the guidance, to maximize the active learning abilities and divergent thinking potentials of the students. With the cavitation phenomenon as an example, the mode is combined with relevant knowledge points of the naval architecture and the ocean engineering fluid mechanics, to stimulate curiosity and interest of the students for the knowledge points, to for them to master and apply the knowledge points, and the understanding and the imagination of the students are inspired round the knowledge points.