A living wave barrier is disclosed. The barrier is made up of a plurality of habitat modules that have cooperating depending footer elements and recesses in the bottom and top sides, respectively. The footer elements are spaced to allow limited free flow of water around the modules. Environmental elements, such as stones and the like, are disposed on the modules to provide a suitable habitat for local aquatic life and further removable elements may be provided to contain oyster spat. The barrier may be attached to an existing pier by way of a throughbore in each of the modules or may stand alone secured on the seabed by a pad. The barrier provides wave attenuation and may also be used to create a recreational area such as a snorkeling park or artificial reef.