Bisection and grid search methods are proposed as wave height estimation techniques for short return periods (hereafter RP; reference, one year) using long-term wave monitoring data. The proposed method is compared and evaluated with the estimation results using GP (generalized Pareto) and GEV (generalized extreme value) distribution functions, which are widely used as extreme value analysis methods. The wave height data used for the estimation were KMA Ulleungdo Ocean Buoy’s wave height data observed for 12 years from 2012 to 2023. The estimation results show that the annual frequency wave height is 4.55 m, the 90% confidence interval (±5%) is [4.18, 4.69] (m), and the confidence interval for the RP is [0.58, 1.42] (years). The difference from the GP and GEV estimation results (4.61 m and 4.53 m, respectively) was statistically ‘no significance difference.’ The method proposed in this study can estimate design variables for RPs without assumptions on candidate extreme distribution functions or parameter estimation procedures, so it can be used to estimate wave heights for short RPs of one year or less when observation data of approximately ten years or more are available.