Which fins??

[grantb]

Hi all, I'm new to diving and about to go on holiday to mexico and plan to take my dive gear, my question is, I currently own a pair of Avanti quatrro fins but when I use them with my boots in warm water my feet become a little floaty, so should I buy a pair of full foot fins to negate the need of the boots??

 

[daz88]

why don't you try and get you a set of just water shoes. "are here they call them "water socks". but just small mesh shoe with a rubber sole to wear with your fins. That's what I use when I dive in warm water. cheaper than buying another set of fins. you can even buy those at walmart

 

[Crowley]

shorter boots are one option - I always recommend open heel + boots rather than full foot fins but there is a certain amount of personal preference involved. Booties reduce problems associated with wandering barefoot over hot sand or rocks or broken coral on the beach etc.

If your feet are only a bit floaty, you can get over this with simple practice and modifying your finning technique a little or re-distributing your weight to bring your legs down a little to compensate. If you're wearing a lot of weights in an integrated weight-pocket BCD, for example, there is a tendency to force the body into a head-down, feet up position, for example, and so shifting some of the weight to a belt can help. How you do all this is a little bit down to you and a little bit down to trial and error, to be honest. There are also ankle weights for super-floaty feet but I reckon (without knowing the exact circumstances) that you don't need these.

In terms of fins, the avanti quattro are awesome, basic, paddle fins. You could look at heavier fins made of vulcanised rubber such as jetfins (which I personally don't like), but I always recommend, as far as possible, that you try before you buy. To save yourself some money in the first instance, see if you can overcome the problem by experimenting with your finning technique, body and weight position. It's impossible for me (or anybody) to give you a super-accurate answer without seeing you in the water with exactly what dear you are wearing (and also what you look like, to be honest).

Hope that helps a little

Cheers

C.

 

[4dawgma]

You may be over thinking the floaty feet thing. Once you get get down to Mexico and start seeing some corals and fishes, you'll probably quit worrying about your feet.

 

[rongoodman]

Why do you think your feet are floaty? Do you just feel like you're head down, or have you actually seen this to be the case in video or pictures?

 

[Progen]

I had extremely floaty feet with my Mares X-Streams and Jetfins took care of them.

 

[Damselfish]

Is it really just floaty feet, or at least partly your position in the water? If you like your fins and boots you might first try shifting weights or tank a bit and see if you can fix things that way. If by boots you mean you're using 7mm high top cold water boots, I would try and find some tropical booties that work with your current fins. A bit less floatation plus more pleasant to use someplace warm anyway. Or water shoes as suggested, though finding the right pair to use with fins can be tricky - many have straps or seams in the wrong places that make them not fit right in fins or rub you someplace, mesh someplace you really wish they did have neoprene, etc, so watch out for that.

Avoiding booties by using full foot fins might solve this problem. But of course a potential drawback there is if you go someplace where you will do shore diving, you'll have a different problem to solve.

And of course heavy/negative fins could do the trick, but when traveling to dive buying heavier gear doesn't seem to me like a move in the right direction unless it really can't be avoided. (I think Avanti Quattros are great fins while being pretty good for travel as they're not too heavy.)

You may find just a little more experience and paying attention to the way you fin helps things too.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I would not buy the extra fins. I am sure there are other answers to your trim issue. Low curt boots or thinner foot coverings should do it, as was suggested earlier in the thread. Anyway, feet SIGHTLY elevated is a good dive posture- it prevents kicking up the bottom.
DivemasterDennis

 

[fjpatrum]

I have the exact same problem with the Quattros. I have a pair of full foot fins I much prefer for warm water and a pair of Tusa Splits, which are heavier for when I am diving cold water. The Quattros are now officially relegated to my loaner bin.

That said, wearing them without booties is less of a problem. Enough less to where I can wear them in warm water if I need to and it won't bother me so much as to distract from the "pretty fishes" type of diving I do in warm water.

 

[boat sju]

You could try some spring straps