surface specific fins?

[TEERLKAY]

I posted something similar in the Marine Science and Physiology but thought I would post here too…

During rescue diver class I found my calves cramping fairly seriously during surface work – whether I was by myself or towing a tired diver.

My fins are open-heel Mares Quattros with steel spring straps and I absolutely love them during regular diving but as I am going to move on to divemaster course I want to get a handle on these cramps.

I guess what I am looking for is:
An open heel fin
A fin good for the snorkeling section of the divemaster skills assessment
Something that’s easy t fi the surface yet will still propel me moderately well while scubadiving.

Has anyone heard of “surface work specific fins”?
TIA

[Diogenesdemar]

My experience has been that lighter closed-heel fins work much better on the surface (e.g. for snorkeling). Usually when one is finning on the surface, they do so harder and over a longer continuous amount of distance (time) than one does when normally diving. The difference, I find then, is that in addition to being generally heavier (and just the associated work fatigue of moving a heavier fin over a longer time/distance), open-heel fins with booties tend to "float up" because of the positively buoyant booties -- to get them work effectively on surface swims one then has to continuously keep the required muscles tensed so that the fins stay down to work well in the water.

If you are going to use an open heel fin for snorkeling in that potion of your divemaster skills assessment, use the thinnest, least-buoyant bootie you can which still provides you a proper fit. Otherwise I would suggest borrowing from a buddy, or renting, a pair of light closed-heel split fins (yeah, split fins, they are fantastic on the surface) -- I think you'll be amazed at the difference.