good fins for wetsuit diving

[Paul M]

Deep 6 Eddy fins for dry and wetsuit.
Lightweight and almost neutrally buoyant. Ever so slightly negative.

 

[formernuke]

I just recently tried out scubapro go sports. They are lightweight so if you need heavy fins for wet suit not for you.

They excelled at frog back and helicopter kicks, worked good for flutter (not as good as splits, but I rarely flutter)

 

[GreggS]

I'll add another Mares Avanti Quattro vote. My wife and I both dive with them.

 

[84CJ7]

I am going to assume you have less knowledge about fins than you probably do just to be on the safe side.

I started with Mares Avanti Quattro and then got Mares Volo Power which were top of the line and recommended by the dive shop at that time.

I can now say with absolute certainty I would never dive with the silly crap the dive shops push on you if it meant I had to give up diving.
Split fins and anything with a hinge point are an utter joke if you need to do anything other than swim straight forward and usually go into flop mode when you really need to power into a current or swim up heavy gear in an incident.

I bought a set of HOG scuba fins on a whim when I was in a more tech diver oriented shop and after a rather rough several minutes where my diving was mess until I got my trim sorted out with the new heavier fins (had to adjust weights around) and got used to them, I suddenly could maneuver 1000 times better in tight spots and do things including going backwards that I didn't know was possible in fins. It does take good leg and ankle strength and proper technique to use a nice rigid type of fin but the rewards are WELL worth it. Another huge advantage is they are wide and short, so they move a ton of water but dont stick out a mile behind you or kick up the bottom as easy.
Similar fins would be the Scuba pro jet fins or the OMS slip stream, aqua lung rocket and a ton of others.

The one thing I would consider is all of these fins tend to be on the heavy side which in warm water without wetsuit legs can create trim issues that leave you slowly going down by the stern when you come to a dead stop until you are standing upright in the water. I was ok in a 3mm shorty with my HOG fins though if I raised my fins up above my knees when I stopped moving during a tropical trip. When in motion it doesn't make any difference. I was still using my 5mm rock boots in the tropics with no issues. Was actually SUPER nice with all the sharp dead coral rocks near shore.

The one fin recommended above that I would definitely go with if you want lighter weight is the Deep6 eddy fin. You can actually get a really good deal on the boots they sell as well (almost half price) with the black friday sale. They are the only neutrally buoyant tech type fin I know of. The only drawback is they are switching to a new plastic injection machine right now so are out of stock on a bunch of stuff until maybe March 2020. They normally come in black and orange but I think all the black are gone. So if you want orange fins (very easy for your buddy to spot you in a crowd) or can wait until March they would definitely get my recommendation.

Make sure you get the size of fin that correctly fits the boots you are using, if you use the same brand for both the manufacturer can help you with that when you buy them, otherwise its trial and error. Hard soled boots usually take larger fin sizes due to the added thickness.
And spring straps are an absolute joy to use, the gimmicky rubber strap with buckles crap Mares (and everyone else) uses need to find a trash to hide in. The only possible advantage to those would be for someone with very delicate feet that wants the bare minimum of pressure from the strap since spring straps aren't adjustable.

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

I'm going to make a supremely original contribution to the thread and suggest.... the Mares Avanti Quattro.

 

[Roy_W]

And another for the Mares Avanti Quattro's. I took the RK3s to the Red Sea last year and ended up borrowing a pair of Quatros which I subsequently bought for myself on return. Although I love the RK3, I keep going back to the Quatros and they are coming with me to the Red Sea in May/June ( deep south).

They are not heavy fins, which is good for the suitcasem and they are powerfull enough for most situations.

 

[KentB]

I am going to assume you have less knowledge about fins than you probably do just to be on the safe side.


Split fins and anything with a hinge point are an utter joke if you need to do anything other than swim straight forward and usually go into flop mode when you really need to power into a current or swim up heavy gear in an incident.

Split and hinge fins won’t be happening. I want something ridgid


It does take good leg and ankle strength and proper technique to use a nice rigid type of fin but the rewards are WELL worth it. Another huge advantage is they are wide and short, so they move a ton of water but dont stick out a mile behind you or kick up the bottom as easy.
Similar fins would be the Scuba pro jet fins or the OMS slip stream, aqua lung rocket and a ton of others.


Shouldn’t be an issue local diving is done with drysuit and a couple deco cylinders


The one thing I would consider is all of these fins tend to be on the heavy side which in warm water without wetsuit legs can create trim issues that leave you slowly going down by the stern when you come to a dead stop until you are standing upright in the water. I was ok in a 3mm shorty with my HOG fins though if I raised my fins up above my knees when I stopped moving during a tropical trip. When in motion it doesn't make any difference. I was still using my 5mm rock boots in the tropics with no issues. Was actually SUPER nice with all the sharp dead coral rocks near shore.

The one fin recommended above that I would definitely go with if you want lighter weight is the Deep6 eddy fin. You can actually get a really good deal on the boots they sell as well (almost half price) with the black friday sale. They are the only neutrally buoyant tech type fin I know of. The only drawback is they are switching to a new plastic injection machine right now so are out of stock on a bunch of stuff until maybe March 2020. They normally come in black and orange but I think all the black are gone. So if you want orange fins (very easy for your buddy to spot you in a crowd) or can wait until March they would definitely get my recommendation.


My drysuit is black and orange all my dive buddies love it they can spot me no problem

Make sure you get the size of fin that correctly fits the boots you are using, if you use the same brand for both the manufacturer can help you with that when you buy them, otherwise its trial and error. Hard soled boots usually take larger fin sizes due to the added thickness.
And spring straps are an absolute joy to use, the gimmicky rubber strap with buckles crap Mares (and everyone else) uses need to find a trash to hide in. The only possible advantage to those would be for someone with very delicate feet that wants the bare minimum of pressure from the strap since spring straps aren't adjustable.

Yes spring straps is the only way to go IME (which isn’t much)

Thanks!

 

[KentB]

Thanks everyone for replies!!

 

[hazmat]

I must be in the extreme minority here in that I hate the Mares Avanti Quattro. I had them for quite a while and often got calf cramps. For years I've been using the Scubapro Seawing Nova and absolutely love them. Amazing propulsion with little effort and I've rarely, if ever, gotten cramps.

 

[CWK]

I had spring straps with my OMS XL Slipstreams. The original spring straps felt too tight so I purchased the next 2 sizes up from the internet as there were none available locally to try. From the 3 different sized spring straps that I had, I used the best fitting one for about 18 months and had issues with bursitis/tendonitis in one heel that needed 2 steroid injections 12 months apart.

Spring straps pressing on your bursa/tendon could possibly cause issues for some people.