Water Shoes

I buy our water shoes at Academy Sports. When the sea floor is clean and smooth, like in the Bahamas, I don't bother with them. But in Mexico, the floor can be rocky and the shoes are an added protection--and plus I am just weird about what I think might be touching my feet. Anyway, about 4 years ago we were at the beach in the Mayan Riviera. My husband stepped on a sea urchin and it cut through the shoes and gave him a nasty cut. Without the shoes, the cut would have been really bad. So, no matter the beach, we always take the water shoes just in case. I use one of those plastic zippered pouches that bed sheets come in to store them. That way when they are wet or full of sand, nothing else gets dirty.

We always take water shoes with us. I buy ours at Walmart. They have the sandals, mesh and the shoes made of the material like crocs. I wear knock off crocs , so wearing those water shoes is nice. I also have type II diabetes and it is important to protect your feet anytime, but especially when you are where there is so many different bacteria out there. Being in a different environment on excursions, and in the water , make it more important. But in the end it is up to the individual.

Whenever we go to Hawaii I always bring my favorite target water shoe. I wear them when kayaking, walking along the beach, etc. They're comfortable and they dry quickly. this kind of shoes are specially designed as they do not absorb and keeping your feet safe from moisture damage.

As much as I use these, camping, swimming, gym showers, I go long so they last.

I agree ... I've had both kinds but the "cheapies" are more than adequate for use during a cruise and yes, I've thrown them out towards the end of the cruise rather than clean.

If you are going to use them quite a bit, I would recommend buying a quality pair. In my case, I am comfortable with the $5.00 WalMart Clearance special, as I would only wear them a couple of times a year anyway. Just throw them away after use.

maryred went into detail with the different types and it pretty much summed it up. I can add you get what you pay for, meaning I would go to a scuba dive shop or a boating store to get them. This is the reason why: We were at Atlantis last year and I was on a tube and went down the shallow rapids. Of course, I flipped over and was dragged for half of the area. I was laughing my you know what off. It wasn't until I got back on the tube and saw my shoe on the top of my foot was missing. That scraped a huge hole in my boots. I had on my heavy-duty diving boots (mares). My foot would have been in bad shape if I didn't have anything on. Of course, I'm top-heavy and you might have the same issue but I will always wear my diving boots on anything I think I will need protection. And these boots were not cheap ~$40. Those boots also saved my feet from the falls at Jamaica. Those hidden rocks were extremely sharp. I purchased new ones, better quality (mares) but I also will dive with them.

I picked mine up in a foreign port. They are plastic. I also have nylon ones. The only problem with them is the material ones collect sand. We have jelly fish, Portuguese Man 'O War and other animals that wash up on the beach sometimes. You do not want to inadvertently step on one. Also sometimes there are pieces of sharp shells lying on the beach. You step on one and you really can cut yourself badly. Occasionally there is also tar that you don't see. I wear my water shoes if I hear about any of these problems from my neighbors. These do not happen to often but it pays to be prepared.

I don't wear them at all, but my husband has a pair that he often wears at the beach and into the water. I don't know what kind he has.

Yes, I have a pair and they'll go with to the beach, to a pool and maybe a hot tub. I don't like being bare foot.