I want to buy my 17 year old son some new (decent) fins and snorkel for Christmas. He has a pretty good mask but has been using a cheap pair of fins/snorkel. He has always worn open-heel fins and an open top snorkel. Can anyone give me some recommendations for fins and a snorkel. Open-heel or full foot? Dry, semi-dry, etc snorkel? He would be suing this stuff for snorkeling in the Keys and wants to eventually get certified to dive.
Thanks.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
Is his goal to be a good free diver or just do a little bit of lightweight snorkeling before he gets SCUBA certified? Or is he going for free diving training cert?
I think initially just snorkeling and then start with an open water cert.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
Honestly, it is a matter of preference. For longfins (usually freediving), you want the closed heel foot pockets as it will spread out some of the pressure to the back of your heel with the longer blades. I do have a couple of buddies that use the long fins for SCUBA and I use them for freediving, but for SCUBA, I prefer a standard size open heel with neoprene boots. I think that the long fins are cumbersome when topside on the boat and I like being able to kick off my fins and still walk around in the boot. A good gift would be boots\fins. I like the Akona stuff, so I have Akona boots with rubber soles on them. I have the high-tops with the zipper up the side, because the hightops will give you more ankle protection against coral and jellyfish. I used to have the low cut boots and when I would wear a full length wetsuit, it would leave my ankles exposed. Between jellies and coral, it was enough to make me want to full boot. I am pretty sure these are the ones that I have: http://www.houseofscuba.com/booties/boo47.html (and yes, I have ordered from this website several times, so it’s legit). There are a few other Akona models on the site and one is around $27. Honestly, I don’t know what the difference is. I’ve bought the $27 boots as gifts and the quality was just as good. You can’t go wrong with Akona for wetsuits\boots, etc.
From the information that you have given, I would say that since his interest is primarily SCUBA with a sprinkle of snorkeling here and there, I would get him boots\fins (open heel). I dive the Tusa Imprex fins and have no complaints, but not sure they make them any more. I’m not sure what the most popular fin is, but you are probably looking at $80-$120 for a “good” pair. Don’t get me wrong, cheaper fins will still work. I’ve got a buddy that dove the Tusa Liberty for years. I’ve never tried his fins and he has always meant to upgrade them. I think that they were around $40 or so. Next to the Imprex, they just have a cheap look about them. I’ve been diving my same
My suggestion would be open heel with booties. I have lost track of the amount of fins that I have purchased over the years. As a working diver in typically zero visibility I bang my fins on everything. When I do go on a charter or on vacation to Bonaire and pull out my banged up, scraped up fins, I know that people must think that I am a “reef killing novice diver who doesn’t know how to control his buoyancy.”
My current pair is Aqua Lung Caravelle and have held up pretty well. Tusa is also a good brand as skinnee suggested.
Narcosis
Thanks for the input. I was actually looking at a pair of Tusa Imprex Tri-Ex open-heeled in addition to a couple of others. I like the idea of booties and open-heel for snorkeling off the shore, etc…
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
The Tri-Ex are the exact ones I have. They must be in the process of being discontinued or something because they are pretty cheap on leisurepro. I am thinking about picking up some backups.
http://www.leisurepro.com/p-tbtf6/tusa-imprex-tri-ex-open-heel-fins
The price of the fins have dropped to $30!!! That is a STEAL. These were originally $99 fins. I’ve done hundreds of dives on these fins and they are rock solid. I actually ordered 2 pairs for myself as backups. I wear the XL, so I could only get the cobalt blue ones (I have the black ones now), but I think pretty much most colors are available for all other sizes.
I ordered a pair at $44 with free shipping. Hmm, might have to order me a pair, I am using 25 year old fins.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.