Perhaps the most fun part of buying freediving equipment is picking what freediving fins to buy! There’s a big difference between scuba diving and freediving fins, and freedive fins have their own purpose designed for breath hold diving. But which are the best freediving fins?
There are SO many unique designs and patterns now which makes it a tough choice. However, it’s not all about the style – don’t forget to look into the functionality of freediving fins, rather than being captured by the design only. Let’s dig into some of the best fins for freediving!
What is the difference between freediving and scuba fins?
But first… let’s talk about the difference between scuba fins and freedive fins.
Scuba diving fins are usually heavier and sturdier, designed for challenging conditions and made with hard tough materials. By contrast, freediving fins are long and flexible. They’re generally made from carbon or lightweight plastic.
Freedive fins are divided in two parts – the foot pocket, and the blade. Foot pockets are an enclosed heel usually made of a smooth, soft material like plastic or rubber. The blade is very long and comes in different levels of stiffness (soft, medium, hard).
Beginner freedive fins are usually plastic – making them a lot cheaper – while advanced freediving fins have blades made of carbon or composite materials.
Can you use freediving fins for scuba diving?
You sure can use your freediving fins when you are scuba diving – there’s no functioning reason why not. Some divers choose to use their freediving fins in challenging scuba conditions, as the extra length can allow for great propulsion in strong currents.
However, you may find they get in the way on the boat, or they aren’t as practical to put on and off. You might also be unpopular if you whack your fellow diver in the face underwater!
Best Freediving Fins for Beginners
When you’re starting out in freediving, you’ll probably want to opt for a plastic fin before progressing to a carbon style (more on that later). These are stiffer, and a great starting point when you’re new to freediving. Here are our picks of the best freediving fins for beginners!
Cressi Gara 2000 HF Fins
A great beginner fin that will last through your development. These fins combine lightness, thrust, comfort and durability. As a bonus, they won’t break the bank – coming in at around $100!
Beuchat Mundial One Freediving Fins
These are a popular high quality entry level fin, suitable for beginners to intermediate. The bi-material fin construction achieves a more efficient fin stroke.
Seac Shout Fins
The Seac Shout fins offer a long-blade, which is designed to deliver optimal propulsion under all conditions. They’re incredibly comfortable, and wallet-friendly coming in at under $100. In the UK we’ve found them as low as £55!
Best Carbon Freediving Fins
This should really be “best freediving blades” as these carbon fins come in two parts. You’ll need to buy both the foot pocket and the blade. We recommend finding a foot pocket that fits you, and then buy the blades to add in. You can then change them when you need to, or whenever you want a new look!
Alchemy V3 Fins
When it comes to carbon fins, Alchemy fins are our go to! Arguably the best freediving fins out there, Alchemy have are a few different options to choose from. They even do a shorter version of the Alchemy V3, which we find perfect for travelling. Their fins are also customisable – you can choose the colours, and even add your logo!
Mares Pure Passion X-Wing Apnea Soft Blade
Looking for something that sticks out a bit more than black blades? These patterned blue and white fins have long, strong blades. They’re high-quality, high-performance fins, and offer one of the longest blades within the Mares apnea collection. This makes them ideal for slightly more advanced freedivers.
Spierre Fins
Spierre Fins create some super cool designs and unique patterns for your freediving blades! We’ve seen a few of the mermaid scale fins on some of our freediving trips. We personally LOVE the whale shark pattern fins!
Women-Owned Freediving Fin Designs
Francesca Page Collections
British artist, diver, freediver, and ocean-lover Francesca Page worked with Penetrator Fins to create this stunning collaboration. Coming in two beautiful prints featuring shark-inspired artwork, these are top quality fins designed for performance. You’ll certainly look unique underwater with these designs!
Jessica Mannering
Penetrator Fins also collaborated with another British artist and Girls that Scuba member, Jessica Mannering (@jessmaemandala), to produce a series of mandala-inspired carbon freediving fins. These are the same performance freediving fins as mentioned above. Jessica’s designs include a white mandala, blue mandala, and beautiful abstract whale design.
Project Hiu
These stunning composite fins are printed with an image of a tiger shark in Hawaii. Funds from the sale of these fins go to the fantastic Project Hiu. This is a woman-run project by Madison Stewart (@sharkgirlmadison). Project Hiu works to decomission shark fishing boats by offering local fishing communities alternative income from tourism.
Best Monofin for Freediving
Mono-what? These types of fins are in fact one fin. Monofins are usually constructed from a pair of foot pockets attached to a blade. However, lots of different styles have developed over the years, as well as different ways of constructing monofins.
When well trained with a monofin, freedivers can dive deeper in open water or move more efficiently for pool competitions. Monofins can be much more effective than bi-fins, which is hardly surprising when you look at the fins you find on our fishy friends!
Molchanovs CORE Silicone Monofin
This stripped-back silicone monofin is ideal for training before progressing to a carbon monofin. It’s also suitable for use for mermaiding, and designed to fit comfortably under a tail.
Mares Race Monofin
For more advanced freedivers looking for a monofin, this is one to check out. This high-quality fiberglass monofin includes variable blade thickness for performance, and is ideal for those looking to compete with their monofin!
