Data corresponding to the experimental study carried out in the framework of a project by the “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” of the Spanish Government and located in the Environmental Physics group laboratory of the UdG. These experimental study aim to determine the interaction between hydrodynamics and the canopy structure, a set of laboratory experiments were carried out with both rigid and flexible stems for different canopy densities, patch lengths and wave frequencies. The data are presented in Excel, where on each sheet of Excel the data represented in the figures of the article published with the results of the different experiments are collected (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28077-2). So the second Excel sheet corresponds to figure 1 of the referenced article where the vertical profiles are shown TKE(turbulent kinetic energy )/Uw2(wave velocity) vertical profiles (a) versus z (vertical position) for non-vegetated set ups, and versus z/hp for (b) rigid vegetation and (c) flexible vegetation for the two wave frequencies studied f (wave frequency) = 1.12 Hz (circles) and (b) f = 0.5 Hz (triangles). The horizontal dashed lines in (b) and (c) represent the height of the plant leaf for flexible plants (hp) or the height of the plant stem for rigid plants. The vegetated experiments presented here correspond to cases with a patch length of 238 cm and SPF (solid plant fraction) = 10%. The horizontal grey lines represent the interface between the upper-canopy layer and the lower-canopy layer for both types of vegetation. The third Excel sheet corresponds to figure 2, it is represented TKE attenuation in relation to the non-vegetated cases at the UCL (upper canopy layer) (βUCL) for (a) flexible vegetation (a) and for (b) rigid vegetation (b). TKE attenuation in relation to the non-vegetated cases at the LCL (lower canopy layer) (βLCL) for (c) flexible vegetation and for (d) rigid vegetation. In the fourth sheet of Excel, the data in figure 3 is specified, that is to say, Vertical TKE attenuation, β′, for the (a) flexible vegetation model and (b) rigid vegetation model. Unfilled circles correspond to f = 0.5 Hz, and solid black circles correspond to f = 1.12 Hz. The vertical dashed lines indicate the threshold of Aw (Wave orbital excursion length scale)/S (plant-to-plant distance) for each type of plant, and the horizontal dashed line represents the y-axis value of β′ = 1. In the fifth sheet of Excel, the data corresponding to figure 4, TKE versus CD−Patchnd22(1−∅)]23Uw2 for (a) flexible and (b) rigid vegetation. Finally, in the six sheet, the data corresponding to figure 5, number of shoots per m2 (n) required to begin producing TKE versus TKE/Uw2 for different patch lengths and for (a) rigid and (b) flexible plant structures.