Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve been more or less using the recommended settings from FS2024 Graphics Settings and Performance Guide (11/20/2024) (effectively a mixture of high/ultra everywhere with TOD 100, though I’m not sure TOD would have an effect in waves/foam but I increased it to 200 anyway and I may increase it further).
I figured it out though: Mallorca looked more or less the same as yours, all good. However the other place I was flying earlier (LGHL, an abandoned seaside airport which isn’t available by default and needs a mod), had the same issue (i.e. flat sea).
That’s because although the wind conditions at the airport (70’ ASL) were reported as 15kts using live weather and the wind sockets were flapping happily horizontally, the actual wind at sea level was only 2 kts.
Which makes zero sense.
As soon as I replaced real weather with custom weather and 10-15 kts at sea level, everything improved and I got my visible waves and foam from any altitude (anything between 0 and 4500’).
Looks like a generic MSFS issue to me as I tried the same scenario in MSFS2020 and the airport winds using real weather were 8-9 kts, but the sea was almost completely flat. Perhaps their weather engine does not work correctly in this bubble and once I get out of the area it gets better (for example LGMG about 50nm to the north seems to work ok).
Anyway I’ll continue my 2024 testing, thanks again.