New to Diving- Fin help

[Marybeth42]

Hey all,

I have decided to actually take steps to make the lifelong dream happen, registered for classes, and am a little overwhelmed trying to navigate all the equipment.
Any recommendations for fins? Brands or types? How much of a difference is there between $150 fins and $50?

 

[nolatom]

Welcome and glad you asked. You will get lots of advice (I hope) about particular brands, and debates over split versus 'regular" fins, and strap release types.

But you're just starting out. I would go for any decent mid-price fins that fit your feet comfortably, as fit is the main thing. Get your own booties first so you can see how you 'really' fit. A year or two down the road you might want to change, but what you want with your first set of fins is decent performance, comfort, ease of donning and especially of getting them off while in the water waiting to climb back onto a boat. Also comfort in walking the bottom if you're going to shore dive.

Some people are "equipment geeks". I'm not. I still dive with most of my original gear from 14 years ago, and having lost a fin to the current once on a work project where we had to take off fins to stand on the bottom and drill u-bolts into a reef for mooring buoy lines, I now dive with mis-matched fins (not split fins, open heel, the "Chevy Malibu" of fins. They work fine, and my buddies know how to identify me easily in a crowd.

So me, I wouldn't worry too much about fins. "Pretty good" fins have served me fine.


You will get much better and more brand-specific advice than this, I predict. But I'd say, get some mid-price fins, probably not too oversize or too long, you want ease of maneuverability and fins you can 'forget about' while you learn to dive.

 

[Marybeth42]

Thanks so much

 

[dbulmer]

Your choice of fins may depend on what type of diving you wish to do. As you are just starting out now I'd be tempted to go for the cheapest you can get. I have no idea if you are training in Chicago or abroad. I do agree with Nolatom that you need to look at booties and as a first pair of fins Cressi frogs or Avanti Planars are not too bad.

If you intend on local diving - I'd go for ScubaPro Jets. It's a great combination for a drysuit.

 

[Quero]

Marybeth, you need the fins to be comfortable. When I did my Open Water course, the fins were part of the rental package, and as I did my course in a warm water place, they were the full-foot type. Well, I have high arches and the rubber foot pocket constantly cut off the circulation to my toes. I spent every dive with cramps in my feet, so my very first gear purchase was a pair of open heel fins and tropical weight booties. Getting open heel fins and booties cost a whole lot more than getting full foot fins would have cost, but it was worth the expense to me.

Another thing to consider in terms of comfort is the blade style. There is almost religious debate here on SB regarding split or solid blade fins, but don't let yourself be swayed by any arguments other than what is best for you. I always recommend split fins for students who have knee or ankle problems since they put less strain on the joints whereas heavy rubber fins are very stiff and require strong legs. I recently had one excellent student who had had ACL surgery and who therefore dives with split fins. She could do everything with those splits that people say one cannot. But split fins are significantly more expensive, so if only for that reason, I would say to get full blade fins unless you've got joint issues.

The last thing to think about is how heavy the fins are. Solid rubber full-blade fins tend to be quite heavy, making them useful for diving with a drysuit and undergarments, which tend to make it easy for your feet and legs to float up. These fins will help keep your feet down. On the other hand, if you plan to do dive travel to warmer areas, their weight works against you for baggage weight issues. I travel with lightweight fins, but weight restrictions here in Asia are very tight, so every little bit matters a whole lot!

All in all, I think the Avanti Quattro by Mares is a great option. Nothing fancy, sort of mid-range in terms of weight, stiffness, etc. They work well for both tropical and cold-water diving, are rugged (I've had my current pair for about 6 years and I do a LOT of diving), neither cheap nor expensive....