I tried the Sea Wing Nova in Jupiter. They were very fast, swam against the current better than any fin I have ever owned, and were very manuverable. Scuba Lab just rated them as the best fin in 2010 and the best they have EVER tested... I am buying a pair as soon as I can find a pair.
Scubapro Seawing Nova
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diver_doug
Contributor
whoa, whoa...slow down there partner. The Nova was Scubalabs fin of choice for 2010 but definitely not the best they ever tested. I believe they said it was one of the most effecient fins they had ever tested (or something like that), but they definitely did not say it was the best fin ever.
NC Wreck Diver
Contributor
Damn...............I can't read all those posts. I don't even know if I'm in that pack. I have a pair, and I love them. I can do all my kicks, and they are great in strong current. I have no problem with them in a wreck.
I'm a blade fin diver. I use a pair of Mares Plana's from 1985 (I love them and they still work fine for me) in my wet suit, and the Nova's in my drysuit.
I'm very used to the Avanti's. I've found the Nova's are about as close to the Avanti's for the 'snap' I look for in a blade fin.
I also saw the Scubalab report as the Seawing almost beating the Apollo Bio fins, which happens to be my beloved ones for 5 years... but now I am seriously thinking on getting the Seawings due to the weight issue... One PAIR of Seawings weigh about the same as ONE Apollo fin, so I guess if I want to travel light, I should give them a try. Also, same as other posts here, I do need a white thing for my video white balance... and pointing the camera to a fin is much easier than using slates. Very eaggerly waiting for more reviews of these fins.
DaMaDo
Contributor
I just got a pair of Novas from my LDS and I really like them.
However you need to be careful on the size and the boots you wear. I'm a size 9 and, using size 8 tusa booties, the medium nova seemed to fit initially. I soon learned that it was putting way too much pressure on the top of my foot and started hurting after a while. I then went back and tried the large, but the tusa wiggled side to side a bit in the front so I bought the scubapro tall boot and it fits with a bit of a stretch in the fin's bungee strap, but no wiggling. That seems to be the best combo for me.
Before I had tried the Oceanic Viper and Tusa X-pert Zoom Z3 with the size 8 Tusa bootie and they were both very comfortable. Although the Z3 and the nova feel like they have the same "horsepower", the Nova seems to have more "torque".
However you need to be careful on the size and the boots you wear. I'm a size 9 and, using size 8 tusa booties, the medium nova seemed to fit initially. I soon learned that it was putting way too much pressure on the top of my foot and started hurting after a while. I then went back and tried the large, but the tusa wiggled side to side a bit in the front so I bought the scubapro tall boot and it fits with a bit of a stretch in the fin's bungee strap, but no wiggling. That seems to be the best combo for me.
Before I had tried the Oceanic Viper and Tusa X-pert Zoom Z3 with the size 8 Tusa bootie and they were both very comfortable. Although the Z3 and the nova feel like they have the same "horsepower", the Nova seems to have more "torque".
jd950
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I agree. My wife and I both tried the Novas and could not get them to fit. One size was too big and the next smaller were very uncomfortable for both of us, particularly on the top of the foot. I think there is something a bit odd about their foot pocket, or maybe they just need a softer compound on the foot pocket?
Anyway, these are probably not fins one should buy without being able to try them on, and really spend some time with them on. Just my experience. I really wanted to like them, but it just wasn't meant to be. Probably work fine for different foot shapes.
tibenmiami
Contributor
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I tried them in a pool and to tell you the truth I wasn't impressed.
I went forward yes, but not at a burning speed for the amount of kick cycles. I tried to do a frog kick which felt very strange. The fin wouldn't move out sideways in prep for the power stroke due to the curves on the sides, the fin wanted to do some weird stuff. I think they are designed strictly for standard flutter kicks.
That same pool session I tried (again) a pair of Scubapro split jets and to tell you the truth for flutter kicking they gave me much more speed for the same amount of kick cycles and effort exerted. The Sea wings I was using were the white one though. Maybe the black ones are stiffer, I don't know. But either way it feels very strange to try to frog kick with them.
I'll stick to my original Jets.
I went forward yes, but not at a burning speed for the amount of kick cycles. I tried to do a frog kick which felt very strange. The fin wouldn't move out sideways in prep for the power stroke due to the curves on the sides, the fin wanted to do some weird stuff. I think they are designed strictly for standard flutter kicks.
That same pool session I tried (again) a pair of Scubapro split jets and to tell you the truth for flutter kicking they gave me much more speed for the same amount of kick cycles and effort exerted. The Sea wings I was using were the white one though. Maybe the black ones are stiffer, I don't know. But either way it feels very strange to try to frog kick with them.
I'll stick to my original Jets.
bilsant
Contributor
I've had a pair since they first came out. Some observations:
1. I'm not a fast diver, so I didn't do any speed comparisons. However, I saw my air consumption immediately decrease when I started wearing them.
2. I notice a significant difference when kicking against current. I often leave other divers who normally are faster than me behind when swimming upstream.
3. I had a fin fail after about 12 months. While kicking back in against heavy current on a night beach dive, I found once I hit the surface, I wasn't tracking very well. I got out of the water, threw my gear in the car, and went home. I had a dive the next morning and found that the fin had broken through one of the supports that run from footpocket to blade. The good news is later that day I walked into the shop where I bought them and received an immediate set of new replacements...lifetime warranty. The only thing that slowed down the process was the entire staff coming to look and marvel...they'd never seen a Seawing fin failure. I tried to fast talk them into giving me a replacement pair in white, but apparently those are still hard to get and they politely declined. I've had replacements for about two months now with no problems.
4. The fit did feel a bit funky, but I went back to wearing a 5 mil boot and the problem went away.
5. Even though they've been around over a year, cool factor is still pretty high. People compliment me on their appearance and ask about them regularly.
I'm a big guy - 6'3" and around 300. I push a lot of meat through the water. I believe these fins are a very good match for me in terms of size, fit, and efficiency.
1. I'm not a fast diver, so I didn't do any speed comparisons. However, I saw my air consumption immediately decrease when I started wearing them.
2. I notice a significant difference when kicking against current. I often leave other divers who normally are faster than me behind when swimming upstream.
3. I had a fin fail after about 12 months. While kicking back in against heavy current on a night beach dive, I found once I hit the surface, I wasn't tracking very well. I got out of the water, threw my gear in the car, and went home. I had a dive the next morning and found that the fin had broken through one of the supports that run from footpocket to blade. The good news is later that day I walked into the shop where I bought them and received an immediate set of new replacements...lifetime warranty. The only thing that slowed down the process was the entire staff coming to look and marvel...they'd never seen a Seawing fin failure. I tried to fast talk them into giving me a replacement pair in white, but apparently those are still hard to get and they politely declined. I've had replacements for about two months now with no problems.
4. The fit did feel a bit funky, but I went back to wearing a 5 mil boot and the problem went away.
5. Even though they've been around over a year, cool factor is still pretty high. People compliment me on their appearance and ask about them regularly.
I'm a big guy - 6'3" and around 300. I push a lot of meat through the water. I believe these fins are a very good match for me in terms of size, fit, and efficiency.
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