This paper presents an overview on how uncertainty and variability of mechanical soil properties are dealt with in offshore site investigation and presents some ideas for utilizing the reliability tools in a more optimal manner for this purpose. Two types of problems are addressed. First, how to extract the maximum amount of information from geotechnical site investigation, which is often constrained by high costs. Second, how to establish characteristic or representative soil properties for design while taking into account the uncertainties caused by the natural variability of soil properties and the interpretation of the in situ and laboratory tests.