To date, there is limited information on how intertidal bare mudflats attenuate the energy of incident waves. This
knowledge is urgently needed, particularly in contexts where coastal protection is predominantly based on
mangrove forests as the main component of the current erosion control measures, leaving intertidal bare mudflats unattended in tropical developing countries. The authors used Tran De district, Soc Trang, Vietnam as an
appropriate case study to address the question identified in the literature. The authors aimed to investigate the
relationship between intertidal bare mudflats and the attenuation of incident waves in Tran De district, Soc
Trang, Vietnam. The investigation was achieved through comparison with mangrove forests and intertidal bare
mudflats in wave attenuation. Three treatments were established with measurements of site elevation, forest
structure, and wave parameters using wave gauges. The results show that intertidal bare mudflats had a
considerable capacity to reduce wave height and dissipate the energy of incident waves regardless of distance
and tidal regimes. It was the ground elevation that helped the intertidal bare mudflats break the energy of the
incident waves. The structure of mangrove forests was not the only element that contributed to wave attenuation.
Intertidal bare mudflats should be reconsidered and integrated into coastal protection measures to increase their
effectiveness in protecting muddy coasts