I grew up on the inland sea, and the sea waves around here are 'rough' for me. Maybe to me all oceans are too choppy and scary. According to my Australian husband, who grew up in QLD, this is normal.
The sea water in VIC is cold for me, having grown up in the Seto Inland Sea（瀬戸内海）. Even in summer the sea was very cold.
It was so cold that as soon as I put my feet in the water in the VIC for the first time, I had to pull my feet down. There are some famous surfers' beaches in the VIC, but I am always impressed by how hard they work in such cold water.
My husband doesn't surf and rarely swims in the sea. He told me that surfers are good swimmers. When my son was younger, I sent him to local swimming lessons, but he doesn't like swimming that much either. My family on the Australian side can swim, apparently, but they don't like swimming that much.
On the Japanese side of my family, my father can swim, but my mother and sister apparently cannot. My sister used to teach swimming to children at the pool when she was a student.
So my sister can swim, but she is not considered that good.
Australia in winter at the moment. It's probably most comfortable to take a leisurely stroll, rather than just relaxing on the beach. In my case, I have the pleasure of taking pictures with my camera. The colours of the sea reflected in the cloudy winter sky are among my favourite colours