advice for new fins?

[Optio]

Hi, I'm looking for my first set of good fins.

I'm 6-2 and weigh 195, i'm athletic. I have been looking into the cressi line of fins. I will use them mainly for distance swims and snorkeling and diving in the lake near my home. but also for freediving and spearfishing on vacation in Gulf shores alabama. size 12-13 foot normal width.

Also my little brother who has a fairly similiar build might share them with me, he has a 11-12 size foot.

any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[monkeyhatfork]

cressi 3000ld is great underwater but kind of a pain on the surface compared to my other fins, c4 mustangs being the easiest. There have been allot of bad reports on the newer gara professional fins with defects etc. you might want to stick with the older cheaper model. If ordering online choose someone that will let you return and exchange if fit isnt right, and I'd order 1 size down(just from my experience) If your looking for easy snorkeling long distance swim fins that still have enough power to be used freediving I usually recommend mares volo race fins to people

 

[Optio]

i'll look into the mares volos.
The gara 3000s seemed like a good choice because of the "LD" so these are not ideal for long distand surface swims??

 

[Optio]

Ok, so now i'm trying to decide between the mares volo and the cressi reaction pros.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[monkeyhatfork]

the gara lds are better for ld only in comparison to the harder hf version, I use them allot but mostly underwater, on trips when I know I might be covering large distances on the surface exploring I take my c4's easy on the surface cause they dont have the stiff tendons extruding from the blade and a bit more angle, I think the volos would be a good choice, have not used the reaction pro

 

[bilgeh2o]

I have been using the duckfeet udt's. Mostly for pool work right now but great power, and pretty comfortable. Pure rubber, quite durable. Good agility when wearing.

 

[hteas]

If you are comfortable with the Duckfeet, stay with them

If you want longer freediving fins, and you have no problem with the effort needed to kick with the UDTs, the 3000LDs should work fine. There are a lot of divers using them and are very happy.

They are too narrow for my EE feets, so I went with wider footpockets. Dessault for my fiberglass blades, and imersion E-carbons.

If you're new to this, don't go with expensive fins. They come later if you really enjoy it.

 

[kronek67]

The Cressi Gara 3000 LD fins are a great choice for an entry freedive fin. They are not expensive. They are very responsive and don't wear me out. I dive in caves and have yet to break one. For me the sizeing has been pretty close. If you get them to fit your feet and they are to big for your brother, he can just put on some 3mm fin socks. Also, sites like LeasurePro will allow you to return them if they are the wrong size.

Brian

 

[monkeyhatfork]

I love the gara lds, I keep a set in my car 24/7 but I think the optimal use is for them is diving, not swimming and snorkeling