The results of the analysis of the wave measurement campaigns on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica are presented. After analyzing more than 14000 spectral shapes from sea states, it has been determined that many of them present 2 or more swell peaks, so it was proposed to perform a wave characterization in which 8 different types of spectra were defined to include all the data collected. Also, verifications were carried out in these sea states to check the reliability of many of the approximations usually used in coastal engineering that assume narrow-band spectra, such as the JONSWAP type.
