The effects of urea addition and reaction conditions were examined in the prepareation of zirconia coated SiC whiskers through surface precipitation taking place during high-temperature aging of Zr(SO4)2 solutions containing the whiskers. More dense zirconia-hydrate was precipitated on the surfaces of the whiskers in the presence of urea. The ratio of the concentration of Zr(SO4)2 to the amount of added whiskers was the most important factor to confine the precipitation of zirconia-hydrate only at the surfaces of the whiskers The from of the coating layers was unchanged after heat-treatment leading to the dehydration and crystallization of the layers.