As climate change intensifies the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events such as storm surges, coastal dunes are receiving increasing attention for their storm surge resilience, and research on the response of coastal dunes to storm surges has made remarkable progress. In view of the cross-shore, alongshore, and cluster responses of coastal dunes to storm surges, a more in-depth study has recently been conducted on their characteristics and mechanisms. Significant progress has been made in terms of the expansion of study areas, improvement of response characteristics, depth of response mechanisms, and innovation of research techniques and methods. However, theoretical and methodological systems still need to be improved, and insight on the influence mechanism of coastal dune elements still needs to be deepened. Additionally, the recovery of coastal dunes in morphology response has not been properly quantified, and comparative studies at the regional scale still need to be developed. In the future, based on a sound theoretical and methodological system, research should be enhanced to better understand these factors.