Whether or not you can "see" waves hitting obstacles depends on the type of wave and the scale of the observation.
In general, waves can interact with obstacles and exhibit various phenomena, such as reflection, diffraction, and interference. When waves encounter an obstacle, they can be partially reflected, refracted, or diffracted around the obstacle. These interactions can sometimes be observed directly, depending on the nature of the wave and the size of the obstacle.
For example, with water waves, if you have a wave tank and place an obstacle in the path of the waves, you can observe the waves reflecting off the obstacle and creating patterns of interference and diffraction. Similarly, with sound waves, you can observe the effects of waves hitting obstacles by hearing changes in the sound intensity or experiencing sound diffraction around barriers.
However, with other types of waves, such as light waves, the interaction with obstacles is often not directly observable to the naked eye. Light waves have much smaller wavelengths compared to water or sound waves, making their interactions with everyday obstacles difficult to perceive without specialized equipment. Nevertheless, the effects of light waves interacting with obstacles can be observed indirectly through phenomena like shadows, refraction, and scattering.
In summary, the ability to see waves hitting obstacles depends on the specific wave type, the scale of observation, and the nature of the wave-obstacle interaction.