During coastal storms, sea waves can overtop the coastal protection elements inducing damages in pedestrian, vehicles and infrastructure and even flooding low-lying coastal areas. Numerical models are an important tool to design coastal protection infrastructure and predict overtopping events. However, to obtain robust and reliable models, they must be calibrated and validated. In this project, a new, easy, and low-cost methodology is proposed to continuously capture images and identify overtopping events in two highly touristic places of the Southern Portuguese coast. This information along with the wave and sea-level conditions will be used to calibrate and validate a numerical model capable of simulating the uprush and backrush of the sea water and the overtopping above the coastal protection features. Moreover, a catalogue will be created gathering all overtopping events along with hydrodynamic conditions. These tools will be very helpful for coastal engineers and managers to design coastal protection features and predict future overtopping events.