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Following up on this answer, is the point at which waves break on the sea shore a guide to the depth of the sea at that point? Could it indicate eg hidden rocks?

Explain the direction of waves on sea shore

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yes it does. Wikipedia quotes the critical number for the ratio of wave height to wavelength to be .17: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_waves#Wave_breaking – luksen Aug 22 '11 at 14:34
@luksen, this was an interesting article. Also states that the waves break when the depth is down to just 25% more than the wave height . – storabjorn Aug 24 '11 at 7:34

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