Watching the Sea

[ctg]

Seems you want both Better light, better clouds, long leading line, and the people.
Photoshop then ?

Not really both are good shots but the critique is more of an expression of what others may feel did or didn't work well. Which to me is filed into compositional effects for the next time I run onto a similar shot. Looking again would you shoot the scene again at the same angle in reference to the chairs? Their alignment is facing the sun as evident to the shadow but at another time of the year they might be more in a perpendicular alignment with the beach? Note the 2 chairs near the wall line, they don't add to the effect (of facing the sun) in fact if anything seem not to be noticed or is it the viewer does want to notice them?
But yes all the elements would give more to the image (emotional context). Consider if you had set the 2 foreground chairs more to the left (1st image)?Shooting from the same spot would have decreased the angle producing a more parallel view the waterline. Slightly shifting the location so the other chairs would be cropped from the scene as well the foreground chair would not bisect the line of the wall extending into the water leading toward the children at play. What kind of statement would the photograph made?
Chairs facing the sun => Sitting in the sun => empty => inviting?
Retaining wall => near the edge (of the photo) => boundary , border, closed private => protected area? Leading into the central area where the family plays?
Which is not to say that either shot taken are less than good.
As a note, going full circle. The timing of the 1sted lighter shadows & less contrast than the second => empty chairs void of sun bathers . . now looking at the empty chair of the second => the abandoned chairs => the adult (parent figure) has abandoned the role of drowsily sunning while watching to take on an active part of family fun => larger figure further (deeper) in the water => the viewer sees more details as the eyes roams around the elements within the photograph bringing them deeper into the moment.