The Best Water Shoes For Hawaii

The Best Water Shoes For Hawaii

I’m going to discuss the reasons for wearing water shoes on the beach and the different reasons for waterfall hiking and Hana beaches. Then, I’ll go over the types of shoes to choose from and what type you’ll want for the different activities. I also sort out what reviews you’ll run into online so you can pick out the best water shoes for Hawaii.

• Reasons for Water Shoes On The Beach
• Reasons for Water Shoes Not On The Beach
• Water Shoes for Snorkeling
• Best Water Shoes For Hawaii Beaches
• Best Water Shoes For Hiking In Hawaii

Discussing The Reasons

Reasons You’d Want Water Shoes For Hawaii On The Beach

Reason#1 Rocky areas outside and inside the water

If you are only planning to be at a resort or on the beach to soak up rays and dip your toes in, you may not need water shoes. Many people don’t wear them. However, sometimes the sand can be covering hidden rock. Hawaii is a popular destination and is known for a lot of lava rock around and in its beaches. Here, underwater rock hazards can be found close to resorts and on the best beaches. Different weather conditions and tide can uncover old rock in an otherwise sandy area.

For this reason you may want to get something that offers foot protection. Stories abound of vacationers catching their bare feet and toes on rock when entering the water. Aside from dealing with the pain and trauma (ripping a toenail off!) on a vacation of all places, it’s best not to enter the water with a cut since the ocean has many different types of bacteria. “Coral Cuts” cause bad infections too.

You may not need them, but an inexpensive shoe could save you a lot of grief.

Locals don’t wear water shoes because they know the area. There’s a guy down my street who grew up in Hawaii and when he is visiting in Hawaii, he never wears shoes. But guess what, on his last trip there he got cut on coral. He told me, “I don’t know where that coral came from!” He had to stay out of the water for 10 days.

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Other Reasons You’d Want Water Shoes For Hawaii On The Beach

Reason#2 Misc. hidden objects in sand. Even if you don’t find any rock in the sand, the sand can hide sharp objects.

Reason#3 Sand gets hot!

Reason#4 Walking to and from the beach. As you explore the best beaches you’ll often be walking from parking lots or over grassy hills that connect sandy beaches. These places have black tar that stain your feet or thorny weeds and bushes. It’s easier to leave the nice shoes in the car, clean from sand.

Reason#5 A pair of light water shoes like you’ll see below allow you to go in and out of the water without worrying about flip flops.

Reasons You’d Want Water Shoes For Hawaii Other Than At the Beach

If you are planning adventurous activities, such as hiking to waterfalls, water shoes are an excellent idea. Driving the road to Hana is popular and there are many waterfall hikes where water shoes would be convenient. You’ll be dealing with mud and rocky areas around the pools and waterfalls. For this type of activity, on the Road to Hana, I would suggest a sturdier water shoe.

Looking at tidepools is another place you don’t want to be barefoot. If you know you’ll be on lava rock- I’m talking about tide pools and Hana area, toe and good sole protection is important. For these activities the lightweight sock type water shoes with light rubber bottoms may not be enough. You will still feel the rocks and hard things you step on and they offer very little toe protection. While it’s better than stepping around barefoot, consider a water shoe and not the flimsy water socks/ water shoes. If you know you’ll only be on the sandy beaches then the water socks will work great. I wouldn’t knowingly walk straight in the thorny areas though.

Wainapanapa Beach

When you stop at Wainapanapa, the black sand beach is not just fine sand like on the resort beaches. There are a lot of tiny black pebbles. The area directly around the black sand beach has sharp lava rock that will easily cut up your feet. I have never walked on this beach barefoot. Th Red Sand beach also has a lot of little rocks that are hard to walk on barefoot.

The first time I went to this beach at Wainapanapa Park there were a lot of Portuguese man-of-wars washed up on shore (indicating a bad time to get near the water). These are tiny jellyfish (technically not a jellyfish but similar) that have long tentacles that cause a serious sting.

Water Shoes for Snorkeling In Hawaii

If you are going snorkeling in Hawaii, it’s nice to wear water socks or a lightweight water shoe with your flippers. Read more about this in my article …

Buy Your Shoes Before Leaving to Hawaii or When You Get There?

Water shoes are everywhere around Hawaii. I chose to buy a pair before traveling there becuase why not? I won’t have to re-decide which ones I want or hunt it down when I could go straight to the water. Water shoes are easy to pack and the cost is about the same on Mainland as it is there. Then, if I need another pair because mine didn’t last more than three days I can replace them in Hawaii. Get a cheap pair and if they don’t last there are more available everywhere!

Best Water Shoes For Hawaii Beaches

The best water shoes for Hawaii Beaches are these lightweight water shoes, or water socks as they are sometimes called.

This type of shoe is ideal for the beach. They are lightweight and are comparable to the feel of socks with a rubber sole. They keep sand out but are still breathable and protect the bottom of your feet. When you get a snug fit they stay on your feet in the water. Some have used these for hiking in Hawaii and have been fine but I would recommend wearing something sturdier and also less likely to fall apart.

Choosing the Brand

Choosing a water shoe sounds easy but turns out it’s rather difficult if you’re on Amazon. There are a hundred options and it’s hard to tell the difference in quality. You don’t want to end up spending hours going through reviews only for a low price item. But yet you don’t want to spend $15 for one pair of shoe for one trip that may not even last that long (multiply that by 3 or more when you’re buying for the whole crew and you’re at $50 plus!)

Well, that’s what I did. I decided to gather what I found and pass it on to YOU to save you the time and effort.

A Note On Sizing

If I say a shoe runs small, big or true to size, it means generally. Someone did mention in a review that they ordered two different colors in the same size and got two very different sized shoes even though the shoe size was marked the same on the shoe, which explains the discrepancies you may see in reviews from shoe to shoe.

Cost and Quality

I stuck with the top choices for the best water shoes for Hawaii here. If you want to see a longer list with more options see my article on just beach water shoes. Overall, you pay the basic same cost for a shoe. It seemed to me that any of the brands had bad shoes among many good shoes. The quality is where you end up looking and looking to see if you can get a higher chance for a pair that will last. The top brands listed here though seemed to hold up better from reviews. These brands here are your best bet. If you’re concerned about yours lasting on your trip, buy an extra pair or go to a store in Hawaii, like I mentioned earlier, and buy something there.

A lot of the 4 and 5 star reviews are from people who tried the shoe on but hadn’t actually tested them out on the beach or in the pool. I had to vet the reviews out. AND if you see some listed for less than $10 it’s likely for small kids sizes or an option that isn’t available. Really, these are the best prices and the best value. These are the best water shoes for Hawaii!

Best Brands of Lightweight Water Shoes For Hawaii

• BareRun
• $13.59
• 77% 5 star out of 79 Reviews
• Size: tend to run small
• Seems like the quality is pretty decent though maybe not as comfortable as other brands, bottom inside liner tends to move around (it is removable)

• JIASUQI
• $13.88
• 68% 5 star out of 858
• Size: 18 reviews said run a little small and 29 reviews said true to size
• Fun patterns and one of the colors offers a zipper pocket in shoe around the heel for squeezing in a key or credit card.
• These will likely work for wider feet too
• Largest size for men is 10.5-11

• CIOR
• $21.99- sole comes up over shoe for a little extra toe protection
• 67% 5 star out of 602 reviews
• Size: The shoe TENDS to run small (most people commenting on size of shoe said buy smaller size than your regular size but there were outliers)
• Note: Says there are tiny holes on the bottom for water drainage. There is screen over the holes to keep stuff out, one review said that very little sand got in.

Again, to see a longer list for best water shoes for the beach, go here.

Best Water Shoes For Hiking In Hawaii

I bought these water tennis shoes, pictured above, for my trip to Hawaii since I knew I would be hiking to waterfalls and going to Hana. They were fabulous for those activities! I loved them!! But there were a few drawbacks.

Drawbacks

There is mesh on top. The sole on the shoe has a lot of holes but there’s a couple layers of mesh that still allows water to drain extremely well but keeps anything larger than sand or mud out. I would wear these swimming in water- in streams and waterfalls, and off a boat. But, not on the beach. If you want water shoes for the beach, go with the lightweight socks from above.

Here’s why. These water shoes don’t keep out the sand. Obviously, right? Look at the mesh. Just walking on the beach is not too bad, though I felt I had to be a bit careful when walking to not get too much sand in my shoes. But when I wore them into the water from the beach I got a lot of sand in my shoe. The water that crashes right up on shore has sand from the beach mixed into it. It doesn’t wash out because the water itself is sandy. Plus sand gets stuck in between the mesh layers so it doesn’t come out easy when you do have fresh water. The lightweight water shoes are nylon and will do well for keeping out the sand and for cleaning up.

But Keep reading to see why I loved them when hiking and with fresh water!

What I Loved

On Hawaii I hiked through quite a bit of mud and I could feel the mud squeeze up in my shoe and around my feet. I actually liked that part! What was really great was the mud came off easily in the water. I wasn’t worried about mud caking my shoes at all since I knew it would wash right out in the stream. (I got the pink/ salmon color shoe and after several hikes the mud left a bit of stain that kinda came off in the wash- just get a darker color). Hiking to waterfalls and through rivers was sooo great in these. I could hike over rocks and boulders then walk right into the water without a second thought.

The athletic sole was great for hiking. An occasional rock got stuck in the holes in the bottom but fairly easy to remove. So easy to go from hiking to straight into water. They are lightweight and extremely breathable. You don’t need socks. Quite comfortable to wear and I’ve worn them since to walk and work out in.

A Third Type Of Water Shoe

This shoe is a mix between the two. Since I’m unable to get a picture of it on my blog here, it’s like the “sock” shoe discussed earlier but not lightweight. Do you remember these from back in the day? In the past I haven’t loved this type, mainly because they seem bulky for the water. However, this shoe is great for this type of water shoe and not crazy expensive.