>>59059865Relatively speaking, they are absolutely inferior to the land routes. The sea routes of Gen I and II were some of the worst routes with the least variety, and that's why there were only 2 or so per Gen. Gen III has 17 designated sea routes. The parts of them that are good (Abandoned Ship, Shoal Cave, Sky Pillar, Mossdeep City, Sootopolis City, etc.) are not the actual sea. Diving is fine, it's aesthetically appealing, the encounters are more interesting than surfing encounters and you don't feel the need to use Repel to make it bearable, and some of the diving/surfacing puzzles are interesting.
But sea routes use the surfing theme and whatever reused land theme for the sandbars, which are seen as an oasis because thank God it isn't surfing. The tides on Route 133 and 134 are a fun puzzle, but really annoying to do over and over and over again because you have to Fly back to Pacifidlog and surf west many times. At least there aren't wild encounters while you're on them, but if I had a comparison, it's like the spinning tile puzzles from Gen I and II except in those, you don't get kicked out of the building every time you take a wrong turn (which you will be constantly to try and get items, battle Trainers, and find Dive spots).
Hoenn being a big yin-yang of land and water is an idea that's interesting in concept but not in execution. I don't think there's a single soul who would say that a land route would have been better if it was a big open sea route, but there are many who say the reverse.
