Bonaire Footwear - Booties Needed?

[rhwestfall]

The Wife and I did it with our regular soled booties commonly used up here in the North East. Now, I have a pair of Warmers (Warmers Boot - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL)
I use around here that I actually would strongly consider. If I was able to do it again, I'd also consider some Chuck Taylors.....

 

[tracydr]

The Wife and I did it with our regular soled booties commonly used up here in the North East. Now, I have a pair of Warmers (Warmers Boot - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL)
I use around here that I actually would strongly consider. If I was able to do it again, I'd also consider some Chuck Taylors.....

I was ready to buy a pair of those in your link until I realized they only came in 9s and 10s. I think I take a 4-5 men's. I always have a hard time finding small enough foot size in dive gear.

 

[rhwestfall]

I was ready to buy a pair of those in your link until I realized they only came in 9s and 10s. I think I take a 4-5 men's. I always have a hard time finding small enough foot size in dive gear.

and I am at the other end with a 12 mens.... they do run small, and if you were close, it would be a good choice (but it appears not to be the case). Google to see if someone else may have them. BTW - A pair of Chucks is always a good "plan B".....

NWGreatfull Diver (Bob) dives something similar, maybe PM him as to what they are. He posted a pic once that caught my interest, but the $30 was too good to pass up when they had my size (barely) in these.....

 

[Rythmmaker]

Before my first trip to Bonaire, a friend who had been many times asked if I had hard-soled booties. I hadn't even been aware that such a thing existed, since all my diving had been boat dives up to that point. I trusted their suggestion, and bought a pair of Akona's before my departure. SO GLAD I did - I tried usig my "regular" soft soled booties as an experiment - just to see if I could have gotten by without spending the extra cash before the trip - and even though they had rubber grip soles (thin) they didn't provide nearly sufficient protection to be able to walk on the crushed coral and ironstone shoreline without bruising my soles. The Akonas were perfect and it turned out to be the best advice I got from anyone before my trip.

I'm intrigued by the idea of wearing Chuck Taylors with my open heel fins... Might have to give that a try, just for extra style points!

 

[hroark2112]

Another vote for the Seasoft Sunray boots. Comfy enough to wear to drive between dives. Wore then to breakfast & lunch some days!

next trip I might try a pair of Chucks. I do love a loud color pair of Chucks!!

 

[tracydr]

I may have to look for a pair of Chucks so that I can wear my drysuit fins with my wetsuit. My booties are almost worn out and not nearly as hard of sole as I would like for Bonaire, one of our favorite places.
Do Chuck users where athletic socks or dive socks when diving with Chucks?
My drysuit has built-in boots so no need for them with the drysuit.

 

[morecowbells]

A couple of years ago I purchase a pair of Pinnacle boots which were on clearance. They are the 7 mm Barracuda model. I absolutely love the hard core Iron Man sturdiness of these boots(like pic #3 of first post). The combination of thick soles and rubber on the sides protects me not only from sharp coral rubble but also from a sea urchin if my foot were to sweep sideways leaving the ankle unprotected(never happened to me, but I know an unfortunate person who this occurred whom was wearing thick soled booties) Plus, they are a women's size 5-6 which can be difficult to find. Unfortunately I think this make and model has been discontinued. The closest thing appears to be the Akona Deluxe Molded Sole boot.

As for the open heeled versus closed foot fins, I definitely prefer the heel strap for a couple of different reasons. 1) With my small feet the generous thickness of boot neoprene allows for me to snug up the strap for a secure no slip fit. Once I tried the full foot fin and suffered from foot cramps because I was worried about my foot slipping out. 2) Straps are easier to loop around your arm for shore entry/exit.

 

[gbf]

Another vote for the Seasoft Sunray boots. Comfy enough to wear to drive between dives. Wore then to breakfast & lunch some days!

next trip I might try a pair of Chucks. I do love a loud color pair of Chucks!!

NO NO!! Chucks are white or black hightops. All others are faux Chucks.

We got issued one pair of white Converse All-Stars each basketball season when I was in high school (a loonnng time ago). I'm not sure they were called "Chuck Taylors" then. Seems like the logo on the side said "Converse All Stars", but I may be remembering wrong. Anyway, we called them "Cons".

As far as hard soles on Bon...

I wore a pair of semi-hard, kinda soft booties for a long time. When they wore out I bought some Seasofts. I wish I had done it a lot sooner. It is a lot easier to navigate without sharp rocks poking me in my soft feet and upsetting my balance.

 

[diver 85]

Answer to your post question is-------YES....!!!

 

[SayNo2Snow]

So if I'm following the thread we should use something with a more substantial sole then the Tigullio's that hubby & I Both have for our open heel fins.... yes? or are they okay?

---------- Post added September 22nd, 2013 at 02:25 PM ----------

... alternatively, if we only bring our existing booties, are hard soled ones available at dive shops on BON?