In this paper, we attempt to clarify the jet structure and the behavior of severely erosive cavitation clouds around a high-speed submerged water jet, using a high-speed movie camera with a framing rate of ten thousand frames. The effects of the injection pressure and the nozzle geometry on cavitation are also investigated. The experiments are performed with both a free jet and an impinging jet. It is clearly found that the cavitation clouds are periodically discharged. The cavitation clouds are also closely related to downstream instability and to the impinging erosion.