Oscillatory boundary layer flow is found under waves in the near shore region. This region is responsible for large volumes of sediment transport and whilst a large number of studies have investigated the broader problem only a handful of studies have investigated the boundary layer flow in detail. Most of these studies have also only considered boundary layer flow over rough impermeable beds and therefore do not take into account the potential effect of the flow interaction with a permeable bed. Similar studies in other felds of environmental fluid mechanics have concluded that the presence of a permeable bed can lead to significant diff erence in the boundary layer hydrodynamics when compared to the equivalent flow over an impermeable bed. This thesis presents a series of laboratory experiments that have been conducted over an impermeable gravel bed and a permeable gravel bed to identify the differences in the boundary layer hydrodynamics with a particular reference to the differences in the horizontal velocity profile, the shear stress, turbulence and the bed friction factor. The results indicate that a difference exists in the near-bed flow between the two bed cases. The results also demonstrate that the magnitude of the differences vary with flow Reynolds number, so the more energetic the wave the larger the impact of the permeable bed. The bed shear stress and resulting friction factor was found to be 40% greater for the flows over the permeable bed for the most energetic test case whilst the friction factor for the two bed cases for the least energetic test case are similar. The results also indicate that the permeable bed introduces an unexpected asymmetry in the flow cycle. This is attributed to the high vertical velocities that have been observed. A second series of experiments have been conducted to shed light on the interaction between the flow above the bed and within the bed to help explain the results from the initial gravel-bed experiments. The second series of experiments have been conducted over a regular permeable bed that allows for velocity measurements within the pores. The results indicate that the horizontal velocity, shear stress and turbulence all display signs of being effected by the exchange of flow, or ventilation, that naturally occurs.