Our Snorkeling Fins
Buying Guide
Deciding on what snorkeling fins to get is really pretty easy, compared to fitting a mask, or even choosing a snorkel. Here we describe all the options, give our insights, and recommend specific fins.
First, do you need snorkel fins? Yep, fins are pretty much an essential item. You can swim without fins, but you gain so much efficiency and speed with fins. And this may not appear to matter until you are in a pretty strong current, and then you will bless those fins. Fins also protect your feet from accidental contact with rocks and coral (you should not be kicking coral, but if it happens, it can really tear up unprotected feet.) You can also tread water with fins much easier, saving lots of energy, which could be a life saver.
Snorkeling Fins Choices
Full Foot or Open Foot for Snorkeling?
What is the difference? Check out the two pictures on the left. The top fin is a classic closed foot snorkeling fin. And the second is an open foot snorkeling fin. It is open on the back with an adjustable strap.
Benefits of Open Foot Snorkeling Fins
The primary reason to use an open fin is it allows you to wear a boot. And mostly divers wear boots because they need the insulation (colder water at depths), and because they often are walking with a lot of heavy gear, over rocky shores, and even around a dive boat. So they need foot protection. But a snorkeler can also benefit from wearing booties. If you enter the water on a rocky beach very many times, you will know why.
Keep in mind that since most open foot fins are designed for divers, they tend to need more power (to push all that extra drag and weight through the water), and in our experience most open foot fins are stiffer, much heavier, and bulkier (not good for travel) than the same model name in a closed foot fin.
Benefits of Closed Snorkeling Fins
There are a handful of reasons why a closed foot fin is our choice. First, it is cheaper. Closed foot fins cost less, and you don't have to buy booties also. Second, the fins weigh less. Open foot fins are often bulkier and weigh more. Extra weight at the end of your foot means you have to work harder to move it. And extra weight and size is also not so great when traveling with your snorkel gear (packing in a suitcase is a consideration for us). And third, efficiency tests have proven that a closed fin is more efficient than an open fin. I am not exactly sure why. It could be because they are less bulky, offering better hydrodynamics around the foot area. Or it could be because your connection to the fin is more positive (without a boot between).
So for us, we like a closed fin. But if you are very concerned about your feet, and will be entering the water on a rocky shoreline, then do consider open foot fins with booties.
Snorkeling Fins Choices
Split Fin vs. Paddle Fins for Snorkeling?
Check out the two pictures on the left. The top picture is the classic paddle fin again. The second picture is of a more modern split fin.
The split fin vs. paddle fin for snorkeling is one of those heated type of debates with people hot under the color about their perspective.
But really it is a pretty simple issue. There are benefits to both, and you just choose what you like the best. Or better yet, choose both, and sell the ones you don't like as much. The most important choice is comfort and fit and the quality of what you buy.
Benefits of Traditional Paddle Fins for Snorkeling
Paddle fins do work great. We have used them for years, in a variety of conditions. Generally speaking, the benefit of a good pair of paddle fins is that you have a lot of quick thrust available (fast accelerating speed), and you have good control and maneuverability when you are in close or are trying to carefully move around coral. You can also use a variety of kicking strokes with a paddle fin. But paddle fins are not considered as efficient or as fast over a longer swim as split fins.
With a paddle fin, you get your power from long, slow, powerful strokes of your legs. And if you are used to this style of swimming, and try to use that method with a split fin, you will think they don't work. Good split fins work great, but you have to kick differently with them.
Benefits of Split Fins
The theory behind split fins (fairly well proven through testing and user reports), is that the design of the split fin directs the water force more directly behind the fin than a paddle fin. This propels you forward easier for the amount of energy you put out. So for longer swims, you will save energy with a split fin, and if used correctly, will be able to swim faster.
Your leg stroke with a split fin is very different. Instead of long forceful strokes, you make much smaller, easier, and more rapid kicks in a split fin (sometimes called a flutter kick). You feel less resistance with this type of stroke, through the water, and through your fins.
The things folks don't like about split fins is that they don't provide as much feedback, because you don't push against the water as hard with them, and they are considered to be less precise for control of movement and position in the water. They are not supposed to be as good for back paddling, frog kicking, turning, etc. They are better for moving forward.
What Type of Snorkeling Fins Do We Use?
We have used our basic closed foot paddle fins for years. Mostly because they are comfortable, and they fit well in our suitcase, and well, we have them. But if I were buying again right now (and I may for our next trip), I would go for a good quality split fin (see our recommendations below).
Quality is very important with split fins. If money is an issue, I would buy cheap paddle fins before I bought cheap split fins. Split fins are more of a technology that has to be done right. Paddle fins are more basic in terms of technology.
Most Important Is Comfort
Once again the most important feature of your fin is comfort. You should not have any hard spots rubbing on you. You should be able to snorkel for an hour without any major discomfort. So the first criterion should be a comfortable fit. If the paddle fin is more comfortable, get it.
Size
Make sure they fit correctly. You want them to be a bit snug, but not too tight. Realize that when you get your feet wet, they will slip around more than dry, so a little tighter is better than loose. Nothing is more irritating than snorkeling fins that slip off when you are trying to kick hard. If you are going to buy open foot fins, make sure and get your booties first, and try them on with your footwear (and make sure your footwear is very comfortable and will not rub raw spots when you kick in them for an hour).
In addition to the options above there are a variety of other specialty snorkeling fins available. Below are a couple, and there are many more that are fun to try. I would just recommend you stick with the standard ones above.
Blade Fins
Freedivers use long flexible blade fins. They need to use as little muscle force as possible, while moving quickly, and long blade fins have become the choice. Generally speaking long blade fins are a pain to travel with, and are not good for maneuvering around coral, so it is not the best choice for a snorkeler.
Force Fins
These are some of the most expensive fins available, and are considered excellent in terms of efficiency and speed, if you can get used to them. We have never tried them, and probably won't, because the cost doesn't fit in with our simple snorkeling attitude (OK, maybe we will rent some and give them a shot some day). But you may wish to check them out because people love them, particularly if you have cramping problems. See Force Fins at LeisurePro.
What To Buy? - Our Snorkeling Fins Recommendations
For open foot split fins, the top rated are the Apollo Bio Fins (pretty expensive, very bulky and heavy, and negatively buoyant). Instead, for closed foot split fins, we would get the excellent and much more resonable costing Tusa Xpert Zoom Full Foot Split Fins (pictured on the right). This is a great travel fin that is very light and thin, and wins top awards. And if you prefer a split fin that is a bit stiffer, for more feedback and quick thrust, the Oceanic Vortex V-6 Full Foot Split Fin is well liked.
For paddle fins the top rated right now is the Aeris Velocity Full Foot Fins. It is actually kind of a hybrid fin, with some partial splitting in the middle. If you want power, the Mares Avanti Superchannel full foot fins is the choice.
If you buy any of the above mentioned fins from LeisurePro they currently all have a Pressure Free Fit Guarantee (Look for the PFF icon), which means you can return an item without shipping costs until you get the size right. That is nice if you can't fit it first in a store.
And some of our favorite cheap and comfortable paddle fins for traveling are the classic U.S. Divers Sea Lion Fins pictured on the left (we have used them for years - they are very portable). Read the user reviews on Amazon if you buy the U.S. Divers fins to get the right size.
Check out more Amazon Snorkeling Fins .
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