Our paddle shoe collection currently includes:
- Sandals: Keen Clearwater CNX - light, comfortable and quick-drying.
- Low wet shoes: NRS Freestyle Wetshoe. Perfect for the dry suit.
- High neoprene boots: NRS Boundary. When it's cold as hell. More often the short ones for us.
What you want on your feet when paddling is very individual, and usually depends on how hot/cold it is in the water. But in any case, I think it's nice to have something on your feet, especially when climbing in and out. It is easy to step on something sharp or slippery, e.g. stones, shells, broken glass or other debris. Good grip on wet slabs and stones is definitely a plus.
There are lots of sandals and the like. Most dry quickly and the water drains out quickly. Perfect if the water is reasonably warm. They are available in many different materials. To dry quickly, it is good with quick-drying material and perhaps narrower straps and less fabric. Some popular brands are Keen, Teva, Chaco.
Loafers, a few years before it became hysterically popular with wedge shoes (Crocs, HoleySoles, Foppatofflan) I started using it for kayaking, yes I actually had them for most things. But what is so good about these, some wonder. Apart from the fact that they are very beautiful 😉 they dry super fast, give good grip on most surfaces, weigh hardly anything and don't smell either. In addition, they float and are perfect to use as "rounding buoys" according to international instructor expertise. In addition, they are available in many nice colors, let's just hope they don't completely disappear from the market now that they are not "modern" anymore. Have had problems finding wedges in the right size in recent years, so now it's mostly sandals as summer shoes. Look for Crocs at Amazon!
Slippers. Have also tried Tåskor (FiveFingers)) from Vibram a little for a couple of years. And they look cheeky, but I must say they get dingy pretty quickly, and it's very easy to get chafing if (when) a few little gravel or grains of salt pop in here and there. The boots are probably best when used either dry or wet. For paddling when you are wet and then want to walk in the sand, they are like that. Easy to get chafed by both salt, sand and other small things. Now in recent years, toe shoes and the like have become popular due to the prevailing pretend barefoot running fad... So for those who want to run barefoot but don't dare and instead run with thin shoes, cute 🙂
Sandals / wet shoes, shoes for water activities 🙂
There is a category of shoes that are very airy, may be meant for water activits or they can be thought of for hiking with associated what. Could make a lot of sense as paddle shoes. They often have very large net parts (mesh) which means they dry quickly. With these on your feet, it will also be a good on-land shoe that can handle slightly longer walks/hikes, etc. Perhaps it is enough to bring a pair of shoes for both wet and dry activities. When combined with a waterproof sock. Swim running shoes or other shoes for similar mixed activities are another category that can work just fine.
Then of course it is possible to have any gym pad when paddling. Of course, it doesn't have to be so complicated if you don't want to. Many running shoes have good grip even when they are wet, especially if they are shoes for cross-country running, or TrailRunning as it is a little anxiously called these days 🙂
Above footwear applies when it's reasonably warm, none of them insulate to any extent. Summer shoes simply. Of course, you can wear some of them over a drysuit and wear heavy socks if you want, but that might not be optimal either. Easy to get grains of sand between sandal and suit and rub the suit.
When it's cooler, most people use other gadgets. Mukluks (long soft paddle boots) are flexible, so you can step in/out when the water is a bit deep without getting your feet wet. Works well with both shorts, dry suit and long pants. Some popular brands are Chotas, MEC, GUL, NSR, Hiko and more.
Among long paddling boots, we have used Chota's thin for many years, as well as MEC's variant which is basically an identical variant of Chotas. Now we have NSR boots and they work well too. Neoprene boots are completely tight and, as I said, work with both trousers and a drysuit. I think neoprene directly on the body is uncomfortable, so socks in it are preferable. There are different substantial varieties of boots, some are more stocking-like and others more boot-like. It can be nice to have a substantial shoe part, so you can use them for island walks as well, but the more substantial, the clumsier of course. If you want to wear them for winter use on the outside of your dry suit, go a couple of sizes larger than you normally prefer so that you have room for substantial wool socks inside.
If it is not very cold, I prefer short neoprene shoes, wet shoes, for the dry suit. Then you protect the feet of the dry suit against both the kayak and the beach, rocks, nature. Then the drysuit fabric on the bottom of the legs can release moisture as usual and, moreover, it will not be as clumsy as with high boots. Here we use the NRS Freestyle, also here in a size larger than in normal shoes. The short neoprene shoes can also be used as summer shoes, but as I said, directly on the foot it becomes the swampiest and smelliest layer. A slightly thick sole so they work because a little bit of slip is good. Short neoprene shoes come in many varieties, we mostly used Chotas before getting NRS but all paddle brands have short neoprene shoes in mixed varieties. Search for Neoprene shoes on Amazon, often also called wetsuit shoes.
Cover boot
An alternative that quite a few people use is a type of cover boot. Lundhags has/had a variant called Coverboot. It is a thin nylon boot with some (fairly limited) reinforcement at the sole. These are pulled over normal shoes or boots and can then go in the water. Works well, but the sole wears out quite quickly if you walk a lot on land with them. They are actually intended for wading during mountain hikes, but work perfectly well as kayak boots as well.
Paddling in normal boots can also go well, but if you trip in the water, it's absolutely no problem, a pair of boots filled with water are very difficult to swim in, there is a great risk that you will sink like a stone.
If you know that you have to get in/out from a jetty or can otherwise get into the kayak without getting your feet wet, normal shoes or boots work just fine.
Search for Neoprene Shoes on Amazon
