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Your Guide to Buying Dive Fins
There are many varieties of snorkel, freedive and scuba dive fins on the market and whether you are just starting as a beginner diver, looking to improve your snorkelling experience, or thinking about switching from recreational diving to technical diving, you will need to find a fin that works the best for you and your diving.
To help you to find the best fin for YOU, let’s strip it back a little and get a better understanding of how it all works.

How do dive fins work?
In the same way that moving a hand through water moves the water, a dive fin will extend the movement of the foot and ankle and create push-back and propulsion through the water.
Fins increase the surface area of your foot and experience more resistance (and therefore more propulsion) at each stage of the kick cycle, amplifying the movement whilst reducing the amount of energy the diver uses in the more passive part of the kick. Try taking your fins off during a dive, you will need to work a lot harder to move anywhere!
What is the best dive fin?
The fin that is best for you will depend on what type of diving you do. Freediving fins and snorkelling fins are very different from one other for example, and there are a range of different scuba fins designed for the specific styles of scuba diving. Start by determining what you will be using your fin for. Would you like a fin that is tailored to enhance your specific style of diving like our Tech Fin, or would you like a more versatile cross-over fin, such as our recycled Rec Fin – a scuba diving fin that is also suitable for snorkeling.
Once you’ve determined what you’d like to use your fin for, you can look into the features that will be the most beneficial to you diving style.

How do I choose a dive fin?
Here we enter the maze of different types of dive fins and their features.
We’ve broken it down to help you understand what fin features will suit your diving needs. The main considerations that you’ll want to think about are:
Open Heel or Full-Foot fins
Full foot fins are lighter and easier for travelling, but it can be challenging to find a good fit and can be guilty of causing blisters. It’s worth taking some thermocline fin socks to help avoid abrasion.
Most divers opt for open-heel fins, where a strap comes around the back of the heel to hold the foot within the foot pocket. You will need to wear Rockhopper shoes or dive boots but open heel dive fins provide better insulation and prevent any chafing. They are slightly heavier fins but are more durable and usually stronger so they offer better propulsion. Its also useful to already be wearing boots if you are doing any shore diving!
Split fins or full blades
Split fins (blades with a split down the length) come in and out of fashion in the dive world. They present less resistance so can save exertion and are easier on the leg muscles. However, many feel they do not offer the stability and control that full blades give, nor offer the same level of propulsion. The split fin is best designed for the flutter kick, but for other types of kick, the full paddle/blade fin may be a better choice.
There are various types of full blade fins. Standard fins are simply a flat blade that is used to push the water backwards and propel the diver forward. A totally flat surface can’t prevent the water from flowing off the sides of the fin so reinforcing bars are used to help contain the water in the blade to increase propulsion and to improve the strength of the blade.
Channel fins like our Recycled Rec Fin work by focusing the direction in which the water is moved. Different materials within the blade are used to allow it to flex across the width of the fin, giving it the multi-channel form. The rubber strips allows the dive fin to create a U-shape to capture and contain the water more efficiently as the fin is moved up and down, significantly improving propulsion.
Vented fins like our Tech Fin usually have shorter, stiffer fins, with vents for water to stream through during the less powerful forward stroke of the kick cycle. Many technical divers favour this style as they will have extra weight from additional cylinders of their rebreather unit and the stiffer fins offer more propulsion, which allows them better control and ability to change position in the water. Equally if you are diving in a cave or wreck, you will need a shorter fin that works well with a frog kick so you can easily manoeuvre in tight spaces.
Stiff or Flexible
Flexibility is another important consideration when choosing your fins. Some fins are extremely stiff while others are quite flexible. If you prefer frog kicks, then stiffer fins are your friend as they offer good control and also work well with helicopter turns and backwards kicks. If you prefer flutter kicks, stiff fins will probably get you further per kick, but you are likely to have very tired legs by the end of the dive, so more flexible fins would be a better choice.
How do I look after my dive fins?
Remember to rinse your dive fins with fresh water after your dives to avoid salt buildup or debris from freshwater sites. Avoid storing your fins in awkward positions that could warp the foot pockets or bend the blade, and keep your fins out of the sun to cracking and discoloration. As with all dive gear, regularly inspect the straps, blade and channels for cracks, and replace the strap or the fins as necessary.
Discover more about our OceanPositive Rec Fins made from 97% recycled plastic, and our Tech Fins made from 100% natural rubber.