Versatile fins for scuba and snorkeling.

[MAKO Spearguns]

Yeah, which diver, like jumping in the 18 wheeler to go buy bread

The use of long fins while scuba diving is rather common in certain circles. Spearfisherman who tend (in general) to be pragmatic in their gear selection are one group.’ Guides in many warmer water areas where full foot fins are common is another. And we have many other scuba customers who have found that long fins work well for scuba and freediving.

 

[Ghost95]

Thanks for suggestions. Do they require boots / socks?

The pair I'm talking about do not require socks or booties. I wore mine barefoot. If you need something to prevent chafing, then a pare of aeroskin socks is usually enough.

 

[happy-diver]

Hello there. Apologies if the question been asked. I recently got my open water license and continued to use my Cressi Palau LAF fins for diving. Recently owner of one of the dive shop told me that I can get into trouble with snorkeling fins in the current and need to buy actual scuba fins.

Is there pair of fins that equally can be used for diving and snorkeling?

Yes, take a look at our freedive fins. We have a variety of materials and models and costs. All of these fins are used by scuba divers and free divers. I suspect your instructor is concerned that full foot snorkeling fins don’t have adequate power for pushing a scuba diver. This is not an issue for any of our fins.

https://www.makospearguns.com/Fins-s/68.htm

Thanks
Dano

The use of long fins while scuba diving is rather common in certain circles. Spearfisherman who tend (in general) to be pragmatic in their gear selection are one group.’ Guides in many warmer water areas where full foot fins are common is another. And we have many other scuba customers who have found that long fins work well for scuba and freediving.

Yeah mate and I have two pairs too
but I'm fashion, age, and experience appropriate


Get some scubapro Nova fins Polar Cat and I guarantee you will love them

 

[David Wilson]

Recently owner of one of the dive shop told me that I can get into trouble with snorkeling fins in the current and need to buy actual scuba fins.

I wonder how many LDS owners come up with this kind of judgementalism to boost sales of their merchandise. In Europe back in the 1960s when I qualified, we all learned to dive in the pool and in open water using full-foot Cressi Rondine fins and they worked well enough wherever and however they were used. No difference was drawn between "snorkelling" and "scuba" fins. When it comes to basic gear, this "specialisation by activity" is an entirely modern trend and doesn't always serve the best interests of the individual in terms of personal strengths, experience and expectations. Finding a pair of fins perfectly matching our own needs is a lifelong odyssey without any shortcuts.

 

[dmaziuk]

Recently owner of one of the dive shop told me that I can get into trouble with snorkeling fins in the current and need to buy actual scuba fins.

Yes, absolutely. Also because you can get in trouble in a current, you need to buy their most expensive gear package.</sarcasm>

 

[JackD342]

No doubt that many snorkel fins are "good enough" to dive with and folks continue to use them for years.
But there are still plenty of good reasons to dive with "better" fins.

Aside from the disadvantage of using underpowered fins in a current, they als limit your diving in other ways.
Assuming that your goal is to have a more comfortable, relaxed dive and to avoid surfacing earlier than others due to low on air, then get some good fins and stop compensating for inefficient fins with hard work.

 

[Landau]

Don't necessarily think that larger "Scuba" fins are more powerful in a current. For me and my kicking style my Scubapro Go's are much faster than my MUCH larger Mares Quatros. I prefer a smaller faster kick with smaller fins.

Choose the ones that work for you.

 

[JackD342]

Don't necessarily think that larger "Scuba" fins are more powerful in a current. For me and my kicking style my Scubapro Go's are much faster than my MUCH larger Mares Quatros. I prefer a smaller faster kick with smaller fins.

Choose the ones that work for you.

Absolutely right. There is more to efficient fin design than just surface area. Which is probably why you are diving with $120 scuba fins and not similarly sized $40 snorkel fins.

 

[David Wilson]

I've just been leafing through the above tome by Bill Barada, one of the giants of California diving in the 1950s. From page 36:

As (the) popularity (of fins) increased, and different designs became available, some terrific arguments developed as to which (fin) was the most powerful. In order to settle the dispute, we decided to conduct a test. Several different designs were selected with as many divers. Each diver was to wear each set of (fins) under identical conditions. A rope tied to the diver and attached to a spring scale on shore would register the amount of pull exerted. The divers took turns so fatigue would not affect their power. To our amazement, every (fin) design registered differently with each diver. One design would give top performance with one diver and poor performance with another. A different man would often reverse the results.

We concluded that each diver obtained the most power from the design he was accustomed to using. The designs which gave a poor showing were ones which felt uncomfortable to that particular diver. We decided that comfort was far more important than any particular design.

Sage advice supported by empirical evidence from the early days of recreational diving and leading many future diving manual writers to recommend beginners to borrow several different pairs of fins and see which ones met their own criteria of comfort and performance before deciding which models to purchase. Business could assist more in this process by providing would-be buyers with basic information such as blade length (cm), width (cm) and hardness (Shores) to balance the user's subjective criteria of comfort etc. with the manufacturer's objective measurements of physical dimensions etc.

 

[Tournesol2000]

My experience is that it also depends on how you kick. If you frog kick you may need a different fin to that if you flutter kick.
I tend to flutter Vick in current as I am not proficient in frog kicking and it did me no good using my Eddy fins which work well for frog.
So I think you need to take that into consideration.
I have my Mares Volvo for flutter and as I work on my frog kicking skills in the pool, I use my Eddy fins.
Going back to what Dano from @MAKO Spearguns said, I was told by many people that skin diving fins work great for flutter kicking in current so it is not a sales pitch in my option. I would try them but I don’t want 3 sets of fins