The data set presented accompanies the study by Laso Bayas et al. (2011) “Influence of coastal vegetation on the 2004 tsunami wave impact in west Aceh”. The data set contains all the observed (not transformed) variables used in the above mentioned study. The accompanying text file describes each of the variables included. A total of 180 transects were employed for the Laso Bayas et al (2011) study. The variables were further standardized and simplified to use them into the statistical models described in the paper.