Newbie Fin Questions!

[CuzzA]

I am not quite sure why you would suggest I wear fins that are so long they could damage the coral?

Fins don't damage coral, bad divers do.

If you intend on floating on the surface then freedive fins aren't necessary, but if you're breath holding then the goal is to get through the water column as fast and efficiently as possible to maximize your bottom time and therefore long freedive fins are going to be the best choice.

FYI, Mako will replace a single fin should you lose one. I'm not aware of any other company that will do that.

 

[Crystal A.]

Fins don't damage coral, bad divers do.

If you intend on floating on the surface then freedive fins aren't necessary, but if you're breath holding then the goal is to get through the water column as fast and efficiently as possible to maximize your bottom time and therefore long freedive fins are going to be the best choice.

FYI, Mako will replace a single fin should you lose one. I'm not aware of any other company that will do that.

They sure look like more fun!! But I am going to be close to the surface and I would rather not go than damage anything.

 

[cmburch]

I have the older full footpocket Mares Plana Avant which seem a few inches longer, They do not have the larger middle soft rubber like on the Superchannel blade only the 2 smaller outer channels. I have used them for over 20 years barefoot no socks. They are made for easy slow kicking, but also have good thrust for powering perpendicular through currents. I have also dragged SCUBA buddies under kelp. (Holding their hand so they do not surface in the middle of kelp.) So I think they will fit your needs as long as they are most importantly comfortable.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

We do not sell any open heel or adjustable strap fins. Generally the full foot pocket is thought to have better performance due to less energy loss between the foot and the blade. Full foot fin pockets have no buckles to get caught on fishing line or kelp etc and they are favored by a huge margin over open heel freedive fins. We felt the market demand was too small to carry those types of fins.

Longer fins may take a little getting used to but a practice session in the pool should get you dialed in and allow the diver to avoid kicking the bottom (or coral).

 

[Pebbles Photo]

Boat only or does this also include shore dives? For shore entry you'll want open back fins so you can wear booties.
How critical is length for packing? Free dive fins as you can see are very long. Personally I don't think I require anything like that for snorkeling. My goal is to simply poke around and look at stuff, not get from here to there as rapidly as possible.
There are fins that will fit in carry on if needed.

In places where rip currents or strong tidal currents can suddenly develop, you can imagine freedive fins to also serve a major "SAFETY" function - while snorkelers with low thrust cheap snorkeling fins can easily be taken away by such currents, a snorkeler wearing freedive fins should rarely encounter conditions that would challenge their safety in the same manner.

 

[Crystal A.]

In places where rip currents or strong tidal currents can suddenly develop, you can imagine freedive fins to also serve a major "SAFETY" function - while snorkelers with low thrust cheap snorkeling fins can easily be taken away by such currents, a snorkeler wearing freedive fins should rarely encounter conditions that would challenge their safety in the same manner.

Absolutely, I honestly think I need more than one pair of fins, one for shallow snorkeling and one for exactly this reason.

 

[Crystal A.]

We do not sell any open heel or adjustable strap fins. Generally the full foot pocket is thought to have better performance due to less energy loss between the foot and the blade. Full foot fin pockets have no buckles to get caught on fishing line or kelp etc and they are favored by a huge margin over open heel freedive fins. We felt the market demand was too small to carry those types of fins.

Longer fins may take a little getting used to but a practice session in the pool should get you dialed in and allow the diver to avoid kicking the bottom (or coral).

Hi again, can you direct me to a source for more info on snorkeling with freediving fins? Again I am a total newbie, but I have some instructor friends telling me to completely ignore the idea, and I would like more info. The only place I have snorkeled was off of Manzanillo in Costa Rica (Puerto Viejo area) and most of the time were far enough away from the coral reef that it wouldn't have been an issue, but would alternate with being close enough that I was worried about the regular diving fins touching something. How much control would I have in very shallow water to not let a FD fin scrape anything?

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Hi again, can you direct me to a source for more info on snorkeling with freediving fins? Again I am a total newbie, but I have some instructor friends telling me to completely ignore the idea, and I would like more info. The only place I have snorkeled was off of Manzanillo in Costa Rica (Puerto Viejo area) and most of the time were far enough away from the coral reef that it wouldn't have been an issue, but would alternate with being close enough that I was worried about the regular diving fins touching something. How much control would I have in very shallow water to not let a FD fin scrape anything?

I'm not sure there is a definitely line that everyone agrees upon between snorkeling and freediving. If you remain completely on the surface with the snorkel unsubmerged, I guess everyone would agree that that is "snorkeling". If you are doing breathhold dives to 20 or more meters deep, most people would call that "freedving". If you are staying on the surface most of the time and swimming down 10 or 25 feet to occasionally examine the bottom, what do we call that?

Good freedive fins (and a proper surface dive) will take a diver to a depth of 20 feet in less than 5-8 seconds and if there are no issues with pressure equalization, any healthy person can spend a good bit of time at that depth or deeper with very little effort or fatigue.

If you are snorkeling in very shallow, calm water most any type of fins will work. However, as you indicated in the initial post, you wanted something with more control and power. With a little bit of practice and care, a diver can avoid kicking the bottom and coral etc.

For example, if a submerged scuba diver, freediver or snorkeler wants to kick very near to coral, for a few moments, then they can bend their knees at a 90 degree angle (more or less) and this will put the fins a foot or more away from the coral, and then a few gentle, low amplitude kicks will propel them and avoid contact with the bottom or stilling up sediments etc. The diver will still need to be careful to not kick their knees into the coral, but this is true, regardless of the type of fins used.

In all honesty, if someone wants to do shallow snorkeling in calm water, they don't need freedive fins, but if you want to maximize your perfomance with respect to time at depth, longevity of your time submerged and ability to swim distances on the surface or address adverse currents, then a quality freedive fin will be quite beneficial.

Not sure exactly what you are looking for, perhaps this video might be useful.. skip to 30 seconds and you will see a diver gently swim along some sand and coral, quite close to them with no problems or disturbance or impacts.

As someone already mentioned, it is more an issue of technique, I'm sure one could find videos of poorly skilled (or careless) scuba divers kicking coral (with short scuba fins).

 

[Reef_Rat]

Long blade fins will always be your best bet if you are just snorkeling. The length of the finest should have no effect on the coral around you provided you take care not to contact it. Short or long makes no difference in that regard. The point of the long blade fun is to make your free diving kicks more efficient and with proper technique much more fluid in my opinion. I would not recommend shorter stiffer SCUBA fins for snorkeling. If it's just a hobby then some cheapo store bought will serve you well but if you truly want to maximize your experience in diving free then I recommend long blades. MAKO is a solid brand as any spearo can tell you and most spear specialty companies have long blade fins as well (Hammerhead, Cressi, Mares, Rob Allen, etc...) no need to go straight for a C4 but a starter Ling blade set will serve you well and help to improve your swimming ability.

 

[Reef_Rat]

Apologies for the auto type feature garblung my post.