This paper studies the bulk effects generated during the underwater injection of self-excited oscillating water jets using a designed and manufactured in-house fluidic nozzle. As a first step to predict and analyze the process, transient tridimensional turbulent flows simulations were carried out, wherein two classic turbulent models (RANS and LES), with mesh refinement, were compared regarding their detailed description of the jets-induced vorticity and velocity fields. The submerged jet oscillation frequency was computed through CFD post-processing tools and it was found to be in a good match with the frequency value experimentally estimated by means of a pressure sensor at the desired input pressure level. A liquid-vapor phase change model allowed also the numerical computation of the cavitation field evolution during the jet injection, results of which correlated qualitatively well with the cavitation clouds footage recorded through the stroboscopic shadowgraph technique. Numerical and experimental results evidenced the important presence of cavitation and vorticity as constant effects of the studied process. Furthermore, submerged jet impingement to a soft plastic surface was performed to capture the added destructive potential of these effects and the final volumetric imprints were analyzed using digital microscope and computed tomography.