Vortex = Caribe?

Went into the local distributor of Oceanic looking for the Caribe, and was told that it's no longer sold although it's still found on the website. Was told that the Vortex (full foot, non-split) replaces the Caribe and had all the same properties of the Caribe, included the oversized blades. Is that correct? I certainly hope that I wasn't sold something that I didn't want.

Hi Alan,
I can't speak for Oceanic's Singapore and Southeast Asia distributorship center as to what they have discontinued but if you were in the United States I would tell you that the Caribe full foot fin was discontinued here but it's replacement was the Caribe X fin that you see on Oceanic's website. There is only a minor difference between the discontinued caribe fins and the caribeX fins.
Your best bet would be to contact Oceanic's Asia Pacific pacific Distribution center which covers Southeast asia and Singapore.
They are located in Singapore

SINGAPORE and SOUTHEAST ASIA
OCEANIC ASIA PACIFIC
298 Beach Road, Unit 01-43
The Concourse
Singapore 199554
Ph: +65 6391 1420
Fax: +65 6297 5424
E-mail: info@oceanicasia.com.sg
They handle the distribution to the local dive stores out your way and would be the one's who would be able to tell you if they distribute the caribe x fins.

It is true that not all Oceanic products are available worldwide. Something that is discontinued in the United States may not be discontinued in another country. I think a lot of what is discontinued is based on the popularity of that item in the regions that Oceanic covers worldwide. If a fin isn't selling well in one country then the distributor that services the dive stores in that country may decide not to carry it.
I would hate to think that the dive store you dealt with misled you in any way. If they did then it would be best to let the main distributor know about it. I think I am safe in saying that Oceanic wouldn't think too highly of a store that chose to deceive it's customers. If you do follow up on it, I would be interested in knowing the outcome.

Cheers for the reply! Actually, it was the Singapore distribution centre where I bought it from. I went into the shop asking for the Caribe without realising that it's the Caribe X, so I was surprised that they told me that the full-footed Vector is the replacement for the Caribe, because I remembered that the Vector I saw on the Oceanic site is a split fin. Am wondering if the Vector I have is the Caribe X because they look the same to me. Sorry for sounding like I'm nitpicking, just wanna make sure I'd got the stuff that I'd spent time researching on.

Hi Alan, Boy this could get a bit confusing here. The full foot Vector fins are not the split fin design. The full foot split fin design for Oceanic is the Vortex V-6.

Here in the United States, the vector full foot fins are discontinued and the Caribe was their replacement which was then replaced by the CaribeX. Since Oceanic no longer has a picture of the Vector full foot fin on their website I am including two links which will take you to our website which still has the vector full foot fin pictured.
Our website doesn't have the picture of the Caribe X. I called my boss who is putting it on as I am typing this. I will put it in my next post to you because she is doing it at homewhere her internet speed is worsethan dial-up.
I think you will notice the differences between them just by comparing them to eachother.

By the way, I can't blame you for nitpicking. The consumer is not the same person as they were 10to 20 years ago. They don't purchase things on blind faith anymore.

When I purchase something, I like to find out as much about an item, that I am thinking of purchasing, before I go into a store to buy it. Ten to twenty years ago I would have only had catalogues and word of mouth for research. Today I have scuba magazines that do product comparisons as well as the introduction of the largest researching tool available which is the internet.

As a consumer, myself, I research the product because, to be quite honest, I don't want to walk into a store and ask stupid questions. I have heard over and over again that there are no stupid questions. That is a statement that I do believe in whole heartedly, from a salesperson's point of view. When I am wearing my consumer hat I find it much more difficult to convince myself of the contrary. Researching the product gets me one step closer to being on the same page as the person trying to sell it to me.

I do want to restate that just because an item is discontinued in the U.S. it does not mean that the item is discontinued in other countries. If Singapore says that the vector full foot fin is the replacement for the caribe fin then I would be inclined to believe them. I do question the statement in your first post about whether the Vector and the Caribe or Caribe X have all the same properties.

Here's the link to the pictures. Let me know if you were able to open the links.

http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/detail.aspx?ID=488
caribe x

http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/detail.aspx?ID=615
vector full foot