We have flat country, and there are no high landmarks to visaualize. The directions are: up-stream, down-stream, riverside, and lakeside, with the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain as the reference points.
Where we live, I can't imagine describing or figuring out which direction the water is flowing where we are....we live near a lovely creek, which empties into an inlet and then into the ocean... or is it the other way around?.. and then kms. away there's a river that I guess flows from or into the Pacific Ocean..? We have penisulas, a few mini islands, etc.

The ocean tides do go up and down ..pretty well near our doorstep, of which there is a bike path and pedestrian path running parallel.

Certainly the kayakers that roll by our building have their world of wayfinding... I'm not a water person since I can't swim.