This study examines the evolution of coastal research from 1970 to 2023 using bibliometric analysis of Scopus data. We analyzed publications with “coastal areas” or “littoral” in their titles or abstracts, focusing on trends in research themes. By combining traditional topic modeling with Large Language Models (LLMs), we identified key research domains and tracked their evolution. Our findings reveal a significant increase in publications, particularly since the 2000s. The field has become more interdisciplinary, integrating social sciences and humanities to address complex coastal challenges. This analysis underscores the value of scientometrics in informing policy and research agendas, supporting the development of sustainable coastal management strategies.