Model data presented in: De Dominicis, M., Wolf, J., van Hespen, R., Zheng, P., Hu. Z. "Mangrove forests can be an effective coastal defence in the Pearl River Delta, China", Communications Earth & Environment (2023). To explore the effects of vegetation on storm surge dynamics and currents, we used a Finite Volume Community Ocean Model implementation for the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta and simulated Typhoon Hato (2017) one of the strongest typhoons to affect the coastal areas of the Pearl River Delta in recent decades. We numerically modelled the protection capability of the mangrove wetlands in Shenzhen Bay and in the upper estuary river branches close to Guangzhou to determine their ability to mitigate coastal flooding. Additionally, we analyzed how the effectiveness of mangroves changes under different sea level rise scenarios. The dataset consists of water elevation and horizontal currents for 40 model experiments (see Table 1 in De Dominicis et al, 2023).