U.S. Divers Sea Lion Floating Fins

There has been a great deal of difficulty regarding the sizing of these fins, so I am posting a detailed review regarding size and fit. It is my solid opinion that Amazon pull down menu sizing corresponds directly to women's US shoe sizes - for the M at least. If you use it this way, I think they are true to size. They are definitely not true to men's sizes!I read reviews all over the internet for 45 minutes before choosing a M for my size 8-8.5 (38-39) women's foot. Some women with my foot size said the ML was perfect, while others said it was way too big. It was clear that women with a 7.5 foot liked the M and those with a 8.5-9 liked the ML (or thought it was too big). I like tight very snug fins for free movement in the water so I chose the snugger fit of a M and am happy with it.I want to clearly state that I am displeased that the Amazon pull down menu sizes are inconsistent with the size info listed right on the page under the fins. According to the Amazon page, a M could be either a 7-8, 7-9, or 8.5-10.5 (pull down menu, men's, womens respectively). How a customer is supposed to interpret this is beyond me. I would NEVER suggest the M for ANYTHING larger than my 8.5 W / 38-39 foot. I suggest ignoring the sizing info under the fins and simply using the Amazon pull down sizing menu - the one you use to select your size to order - and assume the sizes listed there are women's US sizes.The medium footbed is about 9" long. I read this measurement on an ebay listing and this corresponds to my foot length. See pictures below comparing my foot to the fin's footbed. I have D width feet, and if it weren't for that, these would fit perfectly. I have to push my foot up closer to the toe opening to get a bit more width out of them, but otherwise the length is perfectly fine. A 7.5 W would also be great in these.The fins are all rubber/plastic, but two different kinds! As an industrial designer myself, it's clear to me that they use two different injection materials. The yellow part is a bit more rigid and plasticky and the blue part is more rubbery and sticky. The thick yellow part doesn't give much where the widest part of the foot hits, so consider that if you have wide feet. If you have regular or narrow feet then no problem! The heel is decently roomy - enough that I don't think the ML would be tight enough on me to stay on easily in the water. These have a lot of stretch in the foot pocket! When I am in the water, my wide feet aren't holding gravity against the ground, so my foot is narrower, which works. The length works just fine for me. I am curious how a ML would fit, but I think it could be bigger than my personal preference. The worst thing, for me, is when fins don't hug my feet solidly in the water. The last thing I want to do when snorkeling is try to keep my fins on. I'd rather have tight footed fins, let them stretch with use, and move about freely with no attention to loosing a fin at an inopportune dive moment.

These fins have been on several snorkeling trips and work well. They easily fit into a carry-on bag and are not as long as some of the other fins I looked at. I am a female with very narrow size 7.5-8 feet. I use a neoprene liner sock for comfort and do notice that, after a couple hours of wear, that the sides of my foot, next to my big and small toes, will start to ache from pressure. I think people with wider feet might have problems with these fins. I have not tried the fins without the sock due to being worried about the material rubbing against my skin and causing blisters. The fins do float and keep your legs buoyant in the water.

Love the Sea lion swim fins but the sizing is ridiculous. I take a 10.5 EEE shoe and, based on some Q & As near the bottom of the page that addresses customer's concerns, I ordered a set labeled as XL 11-13. Don't you know these were to tight all around?! First, it was a real problem stretching the boot heel onto my feet and then, the boot pockets were too narrow at the top squeezing my foot uncomfortably. They have been returned but i will be buying the same Sea Lion Fins in the 14-16 XXL size, and that's the ridiculous part. But they are excellent swim fins for swimming and snorkeling and if you can get the proper size the first time around, that's another bonus..

These fins fit in my carry-on suitcase and I picked the right sizes for us. We were both comfortable. I wore the ML8-10 sized fins, as I wear a US Women's size 9.5. My husband wore the XL11-13 sized fins, which worked for his US Men's size 11 feet. Both of us would not want to go down a fin size. The yellow plastic is hard and the blue plastic is flexible/rubbery - it seems both were poured into the same mold. They did not look as perfect as the picture, but that's fine. The fins arrived a little greasy (it washed off in the water) and in reusable plastic bags.

I have a wide feet and am shoe size 10 EEE. For the U.S. Divers Sea Lion fins, I ordered XL 11-13. They fit very well. No pain or pinching at all.Fins also fit easily into 20 inch rolling carry-on suitcase, which is convenient for travel.These fins are an excellent compromise between short fins (which are convenient for travel, but don't provide enough propulsion against ocean currents) and longer, firmer fins (which provide excellent propulsion but are heavier and more challenging to fit into carry-on size suitcases).

These do their job decently. They are way too flexible for any real diving or moving in the water. I got them with the intent to use them body boarding in the ocean. They were to replace a pair I had that were perfect but wore out after 10 years of use. These worked alright, but flex too much on kicking which robs you of speed.They held up well during use.They are a bit tight on the sides and I do not have wide feet by any means. I found wearing socks (yes it looks ridiculous) helped to stretch them a bit into the advertised size.If you just want something to kick around in a pool or lake, then these would work. If you need something that you can really use to power yourself through the water to catch a wave or get out if a rip, look elsewhere.