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Swim fins are a must if you want to improve your technique. But they are available in both cheap and expensive versions, and they all look different. So which swim fins are best for you? I’ll take a closer look here, so you can find the exact right pair for you and your needs.
In this guide, I will therefore take a closer look at swim fins. What makes them unique? What should you consider before buying? Which are the best? And which ones suit your specific needs?
👆 Click on each model to jump down to the section where we review each one in detail.
Best heeled option for the price 
Best for competition / lap swimming / fitness 
Best fins for experienced swimmers for the price 
Best swim fins for beginners for the price 
Watery Badger Active Swim Fins help you improve your swimming performance. They are made from super soft, high-quality silicone. Watery Badger Active Swim Fins help swimmers of all levels improve their technique and lower body strength. The Active Fin is an essential tool that can help you build strength, swim faster, and ultimately perform better.
The fins are designed to enhance your body’s natural abilities in the water. They are tailored to improve your performance and speed during swim training.
“High comfort. Perfect fit. They work brilliantly” – (Katja F.)
“You can really tell that these fins are designed to fit the foot well. The fins are great because they aren’t too tight around the foot while still staying securely in place, so overall a great purchase..” – (Lise M.)
Arena Powerfin Pro is our top recommendation for competitive swimmers, lap swimmers, and fitness swimmers alike. And for good reason.
These swim fins are made from 100% silicone, delivering a fast kick tempo while minimising the risk of cramps and injuries. Combined with an open-heel strap design and carefully engineered grooves in critical areas, these fins give you the most natural feel in the water, resulting in maximum propulsion.
These Arena swim fins are best suited for narrow and regular feet, are available in black, green, pink, and white, and come in European shoe sizes 36 to 48.
“Fantastic – comfortable to wear, easy to put on and take off.” – (Amanda K.)
“Great quality, durable, gets the job done.” – (Geir L.)
Looking for maximum speed and optimal control in the pool? Watery Cleat Elite Tech is the perfect match for competitive swimmers, fitness enthusiasts, and triathletes looking to take their training to the next level.
The secret behind these popular swim fins is the well-thought-out design made from 100% soft silicone. The supple material allows you to maintain an exceptionally high kick rate while protecting your feet against annoying blisters, cramps, and injuries. Thanks to the open heel with a strap, you get unmatched freedom of movement and a natural feel for the water, while innovative details ensure maximum propulsion with every single kick.
With Cleat Elite Tech, you get a lightweight, PVC-free fin that drastically improves your swimming technique. The model is available in sizes 36 to 45 and is the obvious choice for anyone who refuses to compromise on speed and comfort.
“Good quality for the money” – (Nicholas J.)
“They give great speed and fit perfectly without slipping off.” – (Anders M.)
Do you dream of better technique, higher speed, and a more natural body position in the water? Watery Shimmer are our most popular swim fins for fitness swimmers and beginners – and with good reason. They are the perfect training tool if you want to practise your technique in the pool.
The fins are constructed from two different types of silicone: a soft foot pocket that protects the ankles and fits snugly, combined with a stiffer, extra-wide blade that exerts maximum pressure on the water. The asymmetrical design ensures the fins don’t knock against each other, while hydrodynamic side rails and the open-toe design deliver fantastic propulsion and water feel.
The closed heel provides the exact support and stability that less experienced swimmers need. As an added bonus, Shimmer automatically helps lift your legs to the surface of the water, reducing drag so you can focus entirely on your arm stroke and breathing.
“They are perfect for front crawl lessons and brilliant when open water swimming kicks off, especially when an older swimmer doesn’t swim as fast.” – (Anonymous review)
“Fitted perfectly, comfortable, stays put! Really good” – (Birgitta G.)
So let’s start by looking into who actually benefits from a pair of swim fins. And the answer is actually quite simple;
Anyone who wants to improve their technique in the water does. That’s why dedicated swim training fins are an absolute must if you want to improve both your technique and speed.
This is because your feet become larger with them on, allowing you to kick with more power in the water. This gives you greater propulsion from your kick, allowing you to focus better on the technical aspects without grinding to a halt in the water while working on technique.
At the same time, fins are also often used during both warm-ups and cool-downs to reduce the strain on shoulders, triceps, and lats when muscles are either not yet warmed up or need to be ‘cooled down again’.
And through the greater propulsion they automatically provide, they will also help you get a feel for higher speeds in the water. This provides a clear advantage when your goal is to learn to swim faster.
Last but not least, you can also use fins to maintain your swim training during minor swimming injuries. This can either be by using them in structured swimming sets or simply for leg training combined with other swim equipment, such as a kickboard.
So whether you are a beginner, a fairly experienced swimmer, or even an elite swimmer, you will benefit from a pair of swim fins.
Now that we’ve established that swimmers of all levels can benefit from swim fins, it’s time to dive into the different types available. Because the market is extensive, as are their features and benefits.
For instance, there are dedicated swim fins for adults, swim fins for children, fins for scuba diving, and fins for snorkelling.
Likewise, there are open-heel fins – also known as adjustable strap fins – as well as full-foot fins.
Confused about what the different terms mean?
You don’t need to be, because now I’ll tell you exactly what the different types are used for.
As mentioned above, you can get fins with both a closed heel and fins with a strap.
As the name suggests, closed-heel fins are completely enclosed. This means that your entire heel – in fact, your entire foot – is encased inside this type of flipper. Just like a standard pair of shoes.
Open-heel fins with a strap, on the other hand, leave the entire heel free. Here, the fins are secured with a sturdy strap that goes around your ankles.
It wasn’t that many years ago that you could only buy closed-heel fins. But in recent years, fins with a strap have become increasingly popular. And there is primarily one main reason for that:
If you have great ankle flexibility and actively use this flexibility in your kick, many find that closed-heel models tend to rub against the Achilles tendon right above the heel. Especially if the fins are very stiff.
This is not very comfortable over time. And you will usually avoid this with models secured to your feet with a strap.
Just as there are zoomers with both closed and open heels, they also come in either silicone or plastic. And both materials have their own unique properties and advantages.
Plastic models are generally very stiff, whereas silicone models are significantly softer.
The stiffer your fins are, the harder your muscles have to work during your kick. This provides the benefit of a much more intense muscular workout when swimming with stiff fins. It also means each kick generates more propulsion, which is why stiff plastic fins are most commonly used for diving.
On the other hand, stiff models will automatically slow down your kick cadence due to the material’s low flexibility. So if your goal is to increase kick tempo and thereby learn to swim faster with your legs, hard plastic fins are not the ideal choice.
And that’s where silicone zoomers come in. Silicone itself is a significantly softer and more flexible material, which allows the fins to flex more easily and makes it much simpler to maintain a high kick tempo.
In short: plastic fins are great for strength-focused leg training, while silicone fins are ideal when you need to keep your kick rate high, such as during regular lane swimming.
The length of your fins also affects their characteristics. Just like we already discussed regarding silicone versus plastic swim fins.
It is quite clear that the longer a fin is, the more propulsion it provides. That is why models with a long blade are definitely the most popular choice when it comes to diving.
However, a long blade and thus increased propulsion is not necessarily the right choice for you. It all depends on the purpose of using swim fins and the swimming distances you are training for.
In short, the length of your fins can be summed up by the following rules of thumb in relation to distance:
And why is that?
If you are focusing on sprint distances and shorter middle distances, you will naturally maintain a high kick rate to generate as much propulsion from your legs as possible. Kicking hard at a high frequency takes an incredible amount of energy, but it also gives you an immense amount of propulsion from your legs alone.
So here, it is essential that your fins are short, allowing you to move your legs easily through the water without disrupting your kick rate.
Over longer middle distances and long swimming distances, it would be far too exhausting to use your legs solely for speed. You simply would get out of breath far too quickly by maintaining a fast and powerful kick over an extended period.
In middle- and long-distance swimming, the legs are primarily used to stabilise the body, support your rotation, and help you maintain balance in the water.
This is where medium blade fins truly shine. The blade is not so long that it becomes muscularly exhausting to kick, but it is not so short that you need a high kick rate to benefit from using them.
And finally, there are swim fins with a long blade, which are simply designed for diving and, indeed, snorkelling. By their very nature, their size requires more muscular effort to kick with, but in return, you get an incredible amount of propulsion with each kick. Absolutely ideal for divers.
Believe it or not, the weight of your fins actually matters. Just as a 10 kg dumbbell is harder to continuously lift and lower compared to a 5 kg dumbbell, the exact same applies to fins.
Imagine wearing a heavy pair of fins during a long kick set. Now imagine wearing a pair of fins that weighs half as much.
At first glance, you might not think it makes any difference since you are practically weightless in the water. Sort of.
In reality, lightweight fins will first and foremost boost your comfort. They will simply feel much more pleasant to swim with. Secondly—as we’ve already touched upon—they will be easier to kick up and down, especially during longer kick sets.
A lighter weight will also—naturally, due to being lighter—reduce the stress on both your feet and ankles. This significantly lowers your risk of both cramps and injuries.
Last but not least, lightweight fins naturally add less weight when carrying them around with the rest of your gear in your mesh bag.
That is why lightweight fins are definitely preferable to heavier models.
Even though outsiders might think it looks like cheating when they see a swimmer using fins, it is anything but. Fins are obviously not used in competitions, but exclusively for targeted training.
With a kicking surface that is 2–3 times larger than your normal foot size, fins—whether long or short—automatically provide more propulsion with every kick without requiring you to work harder.
This gives you a clear advantage during targeted technique drills, no matter what aspect of your technique you are working on. Be it kick, rotation, or catch-and-pull technique.
By ensuring strong propulsion generated purely from your legs, you eliminate the issue of low speed that typically accompanies technique drills. Low speed causes your legs to sink in the water, which hinders your technique across all facets.
Fins can also be used effectively in mixed swim sets to build a great feel for higher speeds in the water.
Using fins is therefore an absolute must if you want to improve your swimming technique.
Just like regular shoes, not all sizes fit the same even if they are listed as a size 42. Naturally, that can be a bit of a challenge when shopping for swim fins online.
As a rule of thumb, however, you can assume that if you wear a size 42 in regular shoes, you will also need a size 42 in swim fins. The vast majority of swim fins are very true to normal shoe sizes. And since we here at Watery have many years of personal experience with swimming and swim gear, we also know which models differ from regular shoe sizes.
That is why we have made a point of specifying on each product page whether a model runs small, true to size, or large, and how many sizes up or down you might need to go to find the perfect fit for you.
By now, we have established that using swim fins is an absolute must if you want to improve your swimming technique. But fins are just one tool for refining your technique – there are other pieces of equipment that can be used effectively on their own or combined with swim fins.
And one specific piece of gear that works brilliantly together with swim fins is what we will look at right here.
If you want to work on your arm technique, a snorkel is indispensable. A snorkel allows you to breathe calmly and comfortably during technique drills, eliminating the need to turn your head to breathe.
This offers the clear advantage of making it easier to maintain proper head and upper body alignment, allowing you to focus entirely on your arm stroke.
Using a snorkel combined with swim fins provides the optimal setup to avoid losing momentum in the water while working on your technique. In short, it gives you the best possible conditions to improve technically without having to worry about either propulsion or breathing.
There are plenty of retailers both at home and abroad selling swimming equipment at vastly different prices.
We recommend buying your swim fins from us at Watery. As a Irish swimming specialist, we offer some of Ireland’s lowest prices and a wide selection of quality equipment.
With fast day-to-day delivery and high customer satisfaction on Trustpilot, we are a safe and obvious choice when looking for your new swim fins.
