There was a change in how the ocean was rendered a few patches back that made the ocean look odd. Ill post some screens to show you what I mean.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2566164956

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2566163197

Basically what you are seeing in the top picture is rocks on the seafloor.

So get some height and see if that changes how it looks.

I keep my render distance maxed out.