Hi Chris,
A scene file would be nice, so I have all the pieces of information about how you would like to work. So, perhaps I can see much faster why you can’t see the underlying texture. Currently, I have no idea what you have set up. A tip would be, perhaps check the Render Settings>Options. But I’m guessing here, which I find more and more professional.
For example, I could see if the spheres are hollow or work like glass-marbles, but again, I start guessing here. Here is a bubble sketch, use the CV-HDRI or your own:
Scene file
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/xJAnH8LeehERZqIvLq1qe3GBWTS4ANK9cdlr1S7GtGM
You should also share how close the camera goes, i.e., how fine the details are. Which means, given a particular resolution, if spheres are really needed, or if a Bump, Displacement or Normal map can do the trick. No idea at the moment.
I’m aware that fluid simulations are not the central domain of native tools, I do not promise anything here. Over the last decade+ I have seen Foam options showing up from time to time. However, given the fact that they have vanished might an indicator of the quality.
I guess a completely different game is given with X-Particles, but I have sadly no access to a license, so I can’t go there. Perhaps check over in their forum, if there is something that works for you.
http://docs.x-particles.net/html/foam.php
To get the edge between water and beach, Fields seems to be the fastest way, an excellent source of ideas is this one here
https://youtu.be/W51e6aT_SU8
Here is a little sketch, to get the discussion started.
Scene file
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/EvV7J6n41IOAch3eiT8Trdi9MNgswSu5V85zh4x3w1w
Enjoy your weekend