There are good things in both, but I prefer the first one.

Initially, I didn't like the opening line. The word 'almost' seemed to undercut the sentence. In retrospect, I get it, but for the first reading, it seemed odd.

The paragraph recalling her first meeting with the sea works very well. The suggestion the ocean is flirting and the sky blushing is beautiful and really sets up everything else.

One quick editing note, try to minimize the use of the word 'that' - it appears seven or eight times in the first few paragraphs. In many cases, you can just delete the word.

Examples:

she was furious that I hadn’t come sooner

I realized that she did not forgive

I knew that her maternal embrace could morph

You get the idea.

The paragraph where she is betrayed by the sea works well but could use some polish. Much of this reads more like poetry than prose, I'm not sure if that was what you were going for.

As the reader, I did not understand why she would allow her child anywhere near the water. In the second version of the piece, the writing is more clear, the child has ignored the mother's warnings, and I thought that actually worked better than the first version.

Overall it is well-written, and obviously extremely sad. Good job.