I seem to remember down on the Kent coast we used to refer to breakers as the man-made wooden structures stopping erosion of a beach...? ~ not entirely sure about that - meanwhile the obvious sound breaking on the beach of my mind is a poem you probably know...

http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2115.html

edit: second thoughts, I think that was breakwaters, and breakers were indeed the waves that did... oh well, my memory also breaks down :)