My kayak, a kevlar Solstice Titan, was carefully chosen over a west coast rockered hull for use as a wildlife observation platform. So said as without prior experience, available information came to this conclusion.
So far so good. But I do not explore sea caves or go rock hopping. The route is usually with the tide. When wave sets arrive or I arrive parallel, I turn into and go over at better than 45 degrees.
At this cowardly level of padling, the Solstice takes care of me on Haro Strait, over the bar and thru the rip during small craft warning or rough seas. Take a close look at the Solstice's complex hull shape.
Generalizing, beginning paddlers I speak with at Smallpox Bay paddling short cheaper hulls are far more tentative in discussion than paddlers with longer hulls. Regulars with short hulls are more tentative. Impression is shorter sea kayak hulls do not go as far as longer hulls. The ace of manuverability over the Great Lakes straight hull is lost on the beginner.