Marine biofouling not only accelerates the corrosion of offshore infrastructures but also increases the shipping resistance. In addition, bio-adhesion could promote trans-regional biological invasion. In order to reduce the damage from biofouling, anti-fouling coatings are regarded as one of the easiest and most economical ways to combat biofouling, which are widely used in ships, offshore wind power, offshore oil platforms, and other fields. Traditional anti-fouling coatings have some limitations such as short service periods, biological toxicity, and microplastic pollution, failing to meet the requirements of practical applications. Therefore, it has become a hotspot to develop a series of new-type marine anti-fouling coatings characterized by high efficiency, broad spectrum and environmental protectivity. In this work, the latest advance on marine anti-fouling coatings as well as their anti-biofouling mechanisms and preparation strategies were summarized. Firstly, the bio-adhesion and metabolite-corrosion processes of marine organisms/microbes on the surface of metal substrates were briefly described, including four stages:surface conditioning, biofilm formation, algal and larval attachment, and microorganism colonization. There were two anti-kind of fouling mechanisms. The physical anti-fouling was conducted through the adhesion inhibition of biological fouling on the surface of materials, and the chemical anti-fouling was through releasing anti-fouling agents or active oxygen to kill microorganisms. Furthermore, the preparation strategies of marine anti-fouling coatings could be divided into two categories:synergistic anti-fouling and bionic anti-fouling. Specifically, synergistic anti-fouling strategies contained the application of anti-fouling agents to improve broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. Moreover, the stimulus of electric, thermal, magnetic, and other external field interventions could synergistically strengthen the anti-fouling properties of coatings. In contrast, the bionic anti-fouling strategy was to construct micro-nano patterns on the surface of materials in a natural way, endowing the coatings with super-wettability, super-lubricative, dynamic self-polishing, and other bionic properties, thus hindering the adhesion of microorganism through forming a blocking layer like air cushion or hydration layer, to realize efficient anti-fouling capability. In addition, natural anti-fouling agents or their synthetic derivatives could also be incorporated into marine coatings to reduce their toxicity on ecological environments. Finally, it is prospected that a deep investigation on the anti-fouling mechanism would further propose new development of anti-fouling coatings for marine engineering.