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What are the fins made out of in the second one?

I’d actually prefer to make the second one, because getting the colors just right for the top one won’t be that easy. I made a Pokémon cake this year and it went a lot better than I expected. Put on a crumb coat and then use a toothpick to mark out where you want to change color. A star tip would probably be easier to fill in the big sections.

@Umbreon: looking at the pic again I wonder if they are not edible? The edges just look too straight. That would be a lot easier. Anything like a cookie is going to get soft from absorbing moisture from the icing.

I always use Wilton buttercream for this kind of cake (easy to make - the recipe is online) mainly because I grew up with my mom using it on cakes so that’s what I expect them to taste like! It’s pretty easy to use for decorating, holds up well. My son had flu and pneumonia this year for his bday and party days so I ended up freezing the whole decorated cake and it actually was great when we ate it.

My other general advice is to start early, work in stages and give yourself extra time in case it doesn’t go as expected. You can make the layers in advance and freeze them, frost the layers and do the crumb coat one night, then do the decorating another night, etc.

I don't bake, but tried a few times. Just by the look of them, I'd stick to the first one. You don't even need to pipe around the top fin, just cover it with icing and place sprinkles around it if it looks bad.

The piping on the 2nd picture scares me and if I tried it, it would definitely be a contender for a nailed it-meme

If it were me, I would combine the one big fin from the first cake with icing more like one of these examples. They seem more free-form and forgiving. I'd probably do a non-edible fin and then I'd probably try out those starfish and coral molds because that sounds so fun and seems like it would add some pretty touches without requiring too much precision on your part. I'm not sure what the molds are like, but you could do candy melts instead of fondant which might be easier to work with.

How about something like this? This is really just blue frosting with a fancy tip and a topper! You'll still get experience using a fancy tip to make it look like waves.

ETA: of the 2 you suggested, I'd for sure do the top one over the bottom.

I think the first one would be easier. Less detail and as noted above you could make the shark fin and number out of fondant ahead of time. Also more forgiving with the brown sugar sand and the swirling of the blue frosting. Good luck either way!

Another option. Can you find some little plastic baby shark figurines to stick on the top of a blue cake? That has become my go to strategy for character cakes.

I'd do a grey shark fin. And if you aren't comfy with fondant you can always make the shark fin out of cardboard and pipe the number on.

I make my kids cakes. I think the icing on either cake is actually pretty easy. Just Youtube how to do it and you’ll be fine. The part that I would be concerned with is the fin(s). I think they might flop over since they are so big. If you have time, I would look on Etsy to see if you can find some cake toppers.