Water particiles only travel in a small circle as a wave passes. The best way to understand waves as energy is to think of a long rope laid on the ground. That means that energy is applied at one end and it moves to the other end. The energy is released at the other end of the rope, just as the energy of waves is releases on shores. In the case of ocean waves, wind provides the energy.
Wind causes waves that travel in the ocean.
The energy is released on shorelines. The greater these three, the larger the wave. The largest waves are found in the open ocean. Waves continue to get larger as they move and absorb energy from the wind. When the wave height becomes one seventh the size of the wave length, the wave will fall over, making white caps.