This study presents a novel monitoring technique for underwater high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables based on the Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS). The proposed technique utilizes vibration and acoustic signals generated on HVDC cables to monitor their condition and detect events such as earthquakes, shipments, tidal currents, and construction activities. To implement the monitoring system, a DAS based on phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) system was designed, fabricated, and validated for performance. For the HVDC cable monitoring experiments, a testbed was constructed on land, mimicking the cable burial method and protective equipment used underwater. Defined various scenarios that could cause cable damage and conducted experiments accordingly. The developed DAS system achieved a maximum measurement distance of 50 km, a distance measurement interval of 2 m, and a measurement repetition rate of 1 kHz. Extensive experiments conducted on HVDC cables and protective facilities demonstrated the practical potential of the DAS system for monitoring underwater and underground areas.