That is pretty much right
Waves break when they get to shallower water
The longitudinal pulse of an ocean wave (A big ripple)
Finds the ocean floor ascending and becoming shallower.
This causes friction and so slows down the bottom half of that waveform
this causes the pulse to become more vertical in shape and ultimately causes the wave to topple over (the breaking part) as the bottom half of the pulse is then going slower than the top half
A rip then is the water that has been brought forwartd by this prrocess looking for a wauy back to the lowest point. A "river" between waves
Any slackwater or "thicker" non breaking waves are most likely going over the deeper parts of the bneach (The holes)
Google will assist you well here also..
"You don't have to be smart to laugh at a fart, but you have to be stupid not to."