Abstract: With respect to the modeling philosophy, merits,limitations, and trends, this paper provides a review ofthe state-of-the-art on the following two types of coastal wave prediction　models that can be widely used in coastal engineering　practice: (1) energy balance models , which are generally used for　predicting the deep ocean wave climate and are quite established, such as　the well-known model------WAM3G. The merit of these models is their　ability to simulate the effects of timevarying windfield conditions on　coastal waves. (2) mass and momentum conservation models, which are　most widely used for coastal engineering, and stand out in their richness and　variety of numerical techniques, including at present the following typicalmodels: mild-slope equations; parabolic equations; nonlinearshallow-water equations; higher-order Boussinesq equations; theGreen-Naghdi theory.