The Light Pair of Fins That Stays in the 4Runner All Summer

The pair of fins that lives in the back of my 4Runner from May through September is not the pair I scuba dive in. It is a pair of Cressi Rondinella full foot fins, blue, and I bought them two summers ago for one job: long snorkels off the public swim beach a few minutes from my house. I am 61, retired after 33 years as a marine electrician, and I have learned to keep beach gear separate from the gear that goes on a charter boat. The Rondinella is beach gear.

Before these I used my old long open heel fins for everything, including a swim beach. They worked. They were also more fin than the job needed. On the surface, in three to eight feet of water, a long stiff blade is extra weight to push and extra swing at the end of each kick. I wanted something I could pull on barefoot, swim parallel to the beach for an hour, and rinse at the carport tub without thinking about straps or buckles. That is what these are.

The Rondinella is a full foot pocket fin with a soft polypropylene blade. The foot pocket is coalesced with the blade, so there is no hinge or strap to fuss with, and there is a heel pull-tab at the back to get them off. Cressi designs and makes them in Italy and covers them with a two year limited warranty. The closure is pull-on. That is the whole system. After 40 snorkel outings, all of them barefoot, I have not had a buckle fail because there is no buckle.

Fit was right from the first afternoon. No break-in, no hot spot on the first swim. They are sized by shoe size, so there is no adjustment, which cuts both ways. If your foot falls between sizes, you have a decision to make. I went with my normal shoe size and they have been consistent. I wear them barefoot, never with boots. They are not scuba fins and I have never worn them on a scuba dive or from a boat.

My routine is the same every time. I park at the public swim beach, walk in to knee deep water, pull the fins on, and swim parallel to the beach inside the marked swim area. Every outing runs 45 minutes to an hour. The water is three to eight feet. I stay on the surface. I do not duck dive and I do no breath hold swimming. After about an hour the back of both heels starts to rub, and that is my signal to stand up and walk out. One afternoon I met a running tide, turned around at once, and came in. That is the only time.

Forty outings, all barefoot, all inside the swim buoys. The only thing that ever ended a swim early was my own heels at the one hour mark.

On the surface the blade is easy. It is soft and flexible, and it does not demand much from my legs. That matters more at 61 than it did at 47. I can swim out, turn, swim back, and not feel like I spent the afternoon on a stair machine. The foot pocket is comfortable enough that I forget about it, which is the best thing I can say about a full foot fin. The heel pull-tab makes them easy to kick off at the end, and I do that in the water before I walk out.

Where they fall short is current. I met a running tide once and knew right away these are not the fins for fighting water. The blade is light, and light is the point. If you need to make headway against a strong flow, you want a stiffer fin and probably boots and open heels. I keep my scuba fins for that. The Rondinella is for the calm side of the beach. It is also not a boot fin. You cannot wear it with neoprene boots, and I would not try. It is barefoot or nothing.

Salt is patient. I rinse them at the carport rinse tub after the drive home, every time, and then they lie flat in the back of the 4Runner until the next swim. They have been wet and sandy and hot and they still look like a pair of fins. The polypropylene blade has not cracked or gone soft. The foot pocket has not separated. I am not gentle with beach gear, but I do rinse it, and that is most of the battle in Florida.

I also use them to look over a stretch of sand before I come back to hunt it. I will swim a line parallel to the beach, look down through my mask, and mark where the bottom changes. Then I go back with the detector. I never use the detector with these fins on, and I never wear them on a scuba dive. They are a scouting tool and a snorkeling fin, nothing more. For that job, they are enough.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you to be honest about what your snorkeling actually looks like. If it is a public beach, warm shallow water, an hour on the surface, and a cargo area that already has too much in it, the Cressi Rondinella is a sensible pair. It goes on barefoot, it comes off with a pull, and it does not need a boot or a buckle. If you dive from a boat, fight current, or wear boots, it is the wrong fin, and no amount of good Italian construction will change that. Buy it for the beach. Keep your scuba fins for the rest.