A hydrophone has a fibre optic interferometer with a reference arm (26) formed by a length of optical fibre wound around a rigid mandrel (30) and with constant optical path length, elastic material (42) over the arm, and a concentric sensing arm (24) with a length of optical fibre wound over the material in a coil so that optical path length changes when the hydrophone is exposed to an acoustic field. Optical output signals are passed to a processor to measure acoustic pressure. Preferably, the elastic material is preferably polyurethane, and the sensing arm is encased in further elastic material (44) and spaced from the reference arm. The mandrel is e.g. a solid rod of metal or other rigid material with end flanges, and the reference arm is potted.