High-resolution models are indispensable tools for studying the ocean’s multi-scale processes. With the wide availability of high-performance computing platforms, high-resolution models are becoming more common for climate studies and ocean/coupled operations. We propose a new ocean model OMARE (short for Ocean Modeling with Adaptive REsolution), that carry out high-resolution, flexible simulation of the ocean by adaptive grid refinement. Specifically, submesoscale processes are targeted for an idealized Western Boundary Current (WBC) test case, and OMARE can capture the dynamically changing processes of the ocean’s mesoscale and submesoscale, with adaptive refinement to 400m resolution. Besides, the adaptive refinement also greatly improves the model’s computability, with reasonable simulated speed on large-scale machines. The presentation will also summarize future research plan and directions for multi-resolution modeling of the global ocean.