Hi Sally, and welcome! So, you've used a Tempo and are looking for an all-around fin. One of the questions to ask yourself has to do with comfort: how long do you intend to wear the fin at a time? and, what temperature will the water be? If you intend to do an hour or more sometimes, and sometimes water cold enough to need foot booties, it narrows your choices. Fins with fixed-size footpockets limit your options here. If it fits right without booties, it will be too tight with them and vice versa. The higher-end fins are over your price point in all probability, and their foot pockets are handmade and tricky at times to get just right. A decent recreational fin is the Waterways Nemo; has molded foot pockets with predictable sizes, though you still must choose a size. It's a very durable fin and attractive (to me, at least). It has no angle, so not as efficient as fins with angle. My recommendation would be to look at fins that use a cycling shoe as an interface, in part because you can adjust the shoes to use booties, or have a second pair in a bigger size for thick booties. Angle is available and sometimes adjustable. Currently there are a couple of choices, though not many within your price. My favorite at the moment is the 2014 Lunocet, which is reasonably priced IMO. If different temperatures don't matter much, and you have good ankle flexibility, you might do well with a Nemo. I think the Nemo is the best value in a lower priced conventional monofin; I have both it, a Glide, and a Lunocet. It's hard to go wrong with a basic Waterway Model 1, and it is reasonably priced as well. Probably the most common, oldest design still in use. As to stiffness, the Lunocet and DOLfin are adjustable hydrofoils, and the fiberglass or carbon fins I would recommend not starting with a super stiff one but something more forgiving to build technique. If you search for those names there is much good information on this forum, and even a few youtube videos to see how some of them work (though it depends largely on the technique of the user!) Good luck and keep us posted on how your selection process goes!
Hi, and thank you for the great reply! Now, as for the questions, the amount of time I wear the fin for will vary greatly, I'd imagine. Sometimes just a few minutes, but mostly I guess about an hour or so - although, that in turn depends on how comfortable the fin is, you know?
I intend to use the fin in pools (approx 27 degrees Celsius), in the ocean (approx 18-20 degrees Celsius), and in lakes (approx 20-23 degrees Celsius, so somewhere in that area, but I also intend to bring the fin with me on travels to more tropical places with warmer water). So the waters I will be using it in are pretty cold (like the lakes and oceans) but that's not something that's ever bothered me before, so I don't really need socks at all, it's just that I heard many people say that the Competitor absolutely chewed your feet up so you might need a sock, but now that I'm not going to buy that fin, if I find one with comfortable foot pockets then there won't be any need for socks or such.
I've heard that name flying around a lot on here, the Waterway Nemo. I've checked it out a little, and it seemed a bit... mediocre? Of course, durability is good, but I think that another very important question is if it's fun to use? I've heard some people say it's a bit tenacious and heavy-like.
I'm just really careful with which fin I go for since I want it to feel good and it's not a small amount of money for me so I want to get it right. Of course, I'll own more fins in my life, but that's no reason for you to not put effort into choosing the right one every time.
The Lunocet, on the other hand, I've done a bit of research on before, on both their old model and the 2014 one. The older one seemed pretty nice, but the new one... I don't know, it just feels like it's lost some of its power. People say it's very neat and sort of smooth in the water, but I don't think it seems very impressive. But that's just my first impression. I think I'd rather have an "ordinary" monofin, but I mean, I've never used the Lunocet so I wouldn't really know.
Again, thanks for the informative and helpful response. I will definitely keep the Nemo in mind and do some more research on it. I'd also like some more thoughts from the forum on that fin, and hopefully more suggestions.
