The increasing water depth and the ocean adverse environment demand more accurate vibration analysis of offshore structures. Due to large amplitude oscillations, a nonlinear vibration analysis becomes necessary. Numerical methods such as finite element constitute a computationally expensive task when applied to these problems, since the occurrence of modal coupling demands a high number of degrees-of-freedom. A feasible possibility to overcome these difficulties is the use of low order models. The nonlinear normal modes have been shown to be an effective tool in the derivation of reduced order models in nonlinear dynamics. In the use of nonlinear modal analysis fewer modes are required to achieve a given level of accuracy in comparison to the use of linear modes. This work uses the nonlinear normal modes to derive low dimensional models to study the vibration of simplified models of offshore structures. Three examples are considered: an inverted pendulum, an articulated tower and a spar platform. Both free and forced vibrations are studied. The asymptotic and Galerkin-based methods are used to derive the normal modes. In addition, an alternative numerical procedure to construct such modes is proposed, which can be used to derive coupled modes. The solution stability is determined by the use of the Floquet theory, bifurcation and Mathieu diagrams, and Poincaré sections. The Poincaré sections are also used to investigate the multiplicity of modes and multimodes. The results obtained from the numerical integration of the original system are favourably compared with those of the reduced order models, showing the accuracy of the reduced models.