In order to solve the challenging problem of marine dynamic target search, a path planning algorithm for area coverage search based on artificial potential field method and genetic algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the quantity of required search position points is calculated in accordance to expected coverage rate and detection capacity of vehicle in the mission area, then the calculation formulation of gravitational and repulsive forces is set, and the specific positions of all points to be covered are determined by the usage of artificial potential field method (APF). Then genetic algorithm (GA) is used to assign tasks according to the number of vehicles, calculate the turning radius combined with the speed of the vehicles, and plan a smooth and non-repetitive search path for each vehicle. Finally, different ocean areas and different number of vehicles were selected for simulation verification, and the boustrophedon search method was selected as the comparison method. Experimental results show that the detection probability of the proposed algorithm can be increased by up to 12.83% compared with the boustrophedon search method, which fully proves the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.