I originally published this article in mid 2017. Now it’s almost the middle of 2025 and so many travels later, the bottom line is yes! Buying water shoes and good water shoes has been totally, 100% worth it.

I have Keens which I bought in time for my trip to Costa Rica in May 2017. I debated whether it was really necessary to get water shoes. Like many people, I like to travel with the least amount of gear as possible, maximize utilization out of the items I have and avoid buying gear I’m only going to use once.  

At first, I thought the water shoes might have been that – a one-time use piece of gear. And holy moly was I wrong! I have taken these water shoes on practically every trip I have been on since I bought them – international as well as domestic. I even use them locally when I go to the beach.

As far as minimizing gear while traveling goes, well after learning more and more about Costa Rica I realized that:

• The water shoes could replace the sneakers as my everyday ‘go-to’ shoes.
• Since they ‘breathe’ they’re more comfortable than sneakers in humid climates.
• They’re recommended for dipping into waterfalls, which we intended to do a lot of. Or even walking on the beach they are nice to protect your feet.

Once I decided it was worth it to get them, the next question was which ones to get. The Keen Newport H2 model is popular and kinda pricey. Target also sells decent water shoes with pretty good tread like the pink ones on the right; and they were super budget friendly. 

But they have zero toe support. I ended up going with the Keens because they offered more overall foot protection. At the time of purchase, adult size Keen water shoes had an open heel, which was a drawback for me. I prefer closed for the protection.

However, I was able to fit into the kids size which come with full heels as you can see above. And bonus! They cost less than the adult models. Today there are adult Keens with closed heels as well as open.

I still would have bought the Keens even if I had had to buy the adult model, as I intended to make them my everyday shoe on that trip.

How They Did on the Trip

I am really glad I got these. They’re worth the investment. On more than one occasion I would have certainly stubbed my toes, slipped, stepped on something unpleasant – had it not been for the Keen water shoes. They were perfect for light walks and hikes where we went in/out of wet and dry areas – for a 0 fuss experience.

ProTip: I bought mine at REI. They have an annual anniversary sale the last two weeks of May as well as the end of June for July 4th. If you purchase an item that later goes on sale, as long as you purchased within 14 days, you can get the difference back.

In addition to REI, Nordstrom and Amazon sell them as well.

These water shoes have been the perfect footwear for waterfalls and wet hikes.

The Keens are great for hiking in caves, visiting waterfalls and all kinds of water sports, even just going to the beach and the sand is hot. In Laguna Beach, for whatever reason there are a lot of bees in the sand. I got stung once so now I always wear my water shoes.

So again, my opinion is yes – get water shoes and get good ones. They are investment piece of gear that you won’t regret buying.

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