Scuba Diving Fins, open heeled fins or close heeled fins, there are different opinions
Good fins are just as important for a diver as a well-fitting wetsuit or a suitable buoyancy compensator or a functioning regulator. Fins, like the choice of masks, are also a very personal decision.
It is important to determine what kind of diver you are. Is diving restricted to holiday and warm water, or do you also dive in local lakes? What are the needs and demands of my fins?
Of course, large, heavy fins have more power. Their fin blade is stiffer, they do more propulsion. The diver should also have the necessary muscles for this, otherwise it can quickly become too strenuous or lead to cramps.
The boots used with the device fin not only protect the feet from cooling, but also protect them from injuries. However, the foot equipment in luggage is heavy and takes up space.
There are also strong close heeled fins that no longer differ from device fins when driven. So if you can do without mechanical protection and protection against cooling, or otherwise protect yourself, close heeled fins are certainly the better and cheaper alternative. They take up far less space and weight in your luggage.
A look at the freedivers is enough to see that most of them are wearing no socks and freedive fins are invariably close heeled fins. Why is that?
In order to keep the loss of power as low as possible, freedivers do not use fins with boots. The power transmission acts directly on the fins when the foot is in the fin. The loss of power is less because the movement is not dampened. Even if close heeled fins are still frowned upon as swimming pool or snorkel fins, they have not deserved this for a long time.
The holiday diver is particularly well advised to opt for close heeled fins, since weight and space play an important role in luggage. The days when diving luggage was transported for free or at very low cost are long gone. While the trend used to be that you could only rely on your own diving equipment, diving schools around the world are geared towards providing their customers with very good rental equipment.
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