Big waves travel over long distances in the open sea.
But it's not the big waves that would disturb when you are floating around, they would just make you float up and down a bit. More disturbing are the small waves that are caused by nearby winds. At the ocean you very often have some wind nearby (depends on the region, season etc).
After watching the talisker atlantic challenge for the last month I think you're wrong. Or is the pacific much quieter than the atlantic?