A combined hydrothermal and sol-gel method has been developed to fabricate superhydrophobic coatings on zinc substrate. A double-layered structure of ZnO/SiO2 nanorods and sub microtubes was obtained first on the surface of zinc substrate by the hydrothermal treatment. Then the effects of the Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) and Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) concentrations in the modification solution on the surface morphology, water repellency and corrosion resistance of the prepared surfaces were carefully studied. The results show that the water repellency of the surface depends largely on the molar ratio of HMDS/TEOS in the modification solution. When the molar ratio was 2, a layer of SiO2 gel was deposited on ZnO nanorod-sub microtube structure to form ZnO/SiO2 core/shell nanorod-sub microtube structure. The prepared superhydrophobic coating had a maximal water contact angle of 152° and a best corrosion resistance since the coating was unwetted in the corrosion solution and could prevent the corrosion media from penetrating into the zinc substrate.