Especially if you add the Joy of Sailing mod (though wind needs some fixing), having oceans has really changed the character of the game IMO. Just something about hitting the ocean to try and find new lands (that hopefully have that one mineral you need…) And hoping you have enough food!
Hopefully vanilla boats get some love, the raft is not great.
I’m playing 1.18 but it’s still very dry, no oceans in sight. Do I need to change some starting settings for the oceans?
Yes, I’m pretty sure oceans aren’t generated by default.