It has an elongated, oval-shaped body with a greatly prolonged, beak-like lower jaw and a short, triangular upper jaw. The body is bluish above and silvery on the sides, with several vertical bars along the flanks. The pectoral fins are short, while the dorsal and anal fins are positioned far back on the body. The lower lobe of the caudal fin is longer than the upper lobe.
It looks like Hemiramphus balao (Balao halfbeak) and Hemiramphus marginatus (Yellowtip halfbeak/Barred halfbeak) are similar in overall body shape and coloration to Hemiramphus far.