Booties or Reef shoes?

[Kinkacruiser]

We are Australians and next month we are off to Tahiti . Of course, snorkelling is on our list of "must do's".We are also novices and as the lagoon are shallow I believe, all we want to do is pop our heads under the water for a look ( there won't be any gap shooting here).

 

I've heard people mention the hard soled booties (I had a look at them online) that are needed when snorkelling. People say you are likely to encounter the spikey sea urchins, sharp coral etc. Would buying the ankle-height hard soled booties be essential for our purpose or would reef shoes (more of a hard -flexible sole slipper) afford enough protection?

 

Thanks for your advice.

Kinka

[Pilot70D]

I have hard soled booties and I have flex soled reef shoes as well. For your purposes the reef shoes will do quite well. I would be very careful to not damage the coral regardless of which type of foot gear I wore. One should never step on or even touch the coral as it can be quite delicate and quite brittle.

 

We are both divers and wear the hard soled booties when diving because our fins fit better with the hard soled booties. The flex sole reef shoes are more comfortable. We often wear them at times as all around shoes.

 

Enjoy that snorkeling excursion and have a great day.:)

[Kinkacruiser]

We appreciate your comment here, Pilot70D. Pleased to hear the reef shoes will suffice. Thanks again,

Kinka