Well personally I've seen it both ways. But usually it seems rougher than what the buoy says. I've been out in some scary sh#t before. To the point we put life jackets on and hailed the coastguard out position. But that's a whole story in itself.
Now last week when the girl n I went to hamburg beach the wave height seemed correct to the buoy. But when it says 1-3s and you get out there and it's barely fishable. Ya gotta wonder