What feature of the sea fascinated the writer most?

Helen was fascinated by the ocean.  She recalled that because she "had always lived far inland... [she] had never had so much as a whiff of salt air."  The ocean was an entirely new experience for Helen.  She first visited the ocean when she was a young woman.  Wearing her swimming suit, Helen left the warmth of the sand and "without thought of fear plunged into the cool water."  Helen loved the movement of the waves.  That feeling of the water moving against her body filled Helen with joy.  After a frightening experience of tripping and falling into the water with her body being tossed about, Helen soon preferred to sit on rocks and feel the sea spray against her skin.  Though she could not see or hear the waves, she could feel them as they crashed on the shore.  She could even feel the pebbles being moved by the ocean water as it washed ashore.