Abstract: In recent years, a new type of phase-resolving wave model, SWASH, based on the non-hydrostatic shallow water equation, was developed to simulate the near-shore wave propagation and transformation. In order to examine the accuracy and robustness of the SWASH model, subsequent to the introduction of its governing equations, boundary conditions and numerical schemes, it is applied to simulate the propagation and transformation of normal regular waves, oblique regular waves or oblique random waves passing along a L-shaped breakwater, and the simulated results are compared with the experimental data. Analysis results show that the near-shore wave processes, such as wave shoaling, refraction, wave breaking, and reflection in front of the breakwater, wave diffraction behind the breakwater, and the wave-induced circulation flow around the L-shaped breakwater, are all well simulated. The numerical simulation results agree well with the experimental data, which indicates that the SWASH model can be used to simulate the wave propagation and transformation in the near-shore area having a complex topography.