Survivability is by no means a new concept to ocean engineering; ships must remain stable and structurally intact in violent sea states; the same is true for offshore oil and gas structures. While knowledge from the ship and offshore sectors can be valuable for designing wave energy converters (WECs) for survival in rough seas, the unique scale, siting and operational characteristics of WECs pose a distinct set of engineering challenges. This paper seeks to provide a review of methods for modeling the loading and dynamic response of WECs and analogue marine structures, such as ships and offshore structures, in large nonlinear waves. We identify current knowledge gaps in our understanding of WEC survivability and provide recommendations for future research to close these gaps.