Protecting Your Feet

Hi Guys,

I%26#39;ve read many reviews stating that you need to wear beach shoes/trainers to protect your feet from the sharp coral.

I was wondering what would be the best. Pimpsils - whereby there cover your entire feet or sandels - whereby the sides of your feet are open and exposed like these - http://www.littlewoods.com/rf/p.do/nano-sandals?Ntx=mode+matchallpartial%26amp;SNtt=nano%26amp;groupId=543785653%26amp;Nu=this_product%26amp;SNtk=littlewoods_search%26amp;Np=1%26amp;SN=103+85%26amp;Ntt=543785653%26amp;D=543785653%26amp;Ntk=group_search%26amp;Dx=mode%2bmatchall%26amp;thisprod=543785653%26amp;N=103+85%26amp;Nty=1%26amp;Mis_item_id=15%26amp;Mis_item_loc_id=1%26amp;product=543785653

Many thanks for your advice in advance.

SJ

Protecting Your Feet

You need something called aquashoes. Dive shops have them, also Land End and your island shop defo will. They are inexpensive. I would not recommend open sandals as you need protection all around your foot - the tops and sides can easily get cut if you go over on a loose bit of coral.

Wid

Protecting Your Feet

Hi SJ

Firstly, one should never walk on Coral. This will kill the tiny polyps that make up the Coral Skeleton. Even touching Coral can damage the animal.

If you refer to walking on dead coral rubble, then Aqua Shoes are ideal and can cost as little as £7.

We%26#39;ve visited various islands in The Maldives and never had the cause to wear anything on our feet whilst on the beach or in the water.

Last year we got married in The Cook Islands on Aitutaki and knew beforehand that we would need Aqua Shoes because their beaches are very course with lots of dead coral everywhere.

The vast majority of the beaches in The Maldives are like talcum powder, so no footware at all is needed.

Light sandals for use in the evening come in handy for walking to the restaurants and bars, as often tree roots stick up from the ground and can cause you stumping your toe or spiking the base of your foot!

But overall, you really don%26#39;t need them.

Paying the £22 for the ones you link to seems a lot to pay, when you could get some ones like these from Ebay as an example...........

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Adults-Aqua-Beach-Shoes-SIZE-9-Swimming-Wetsuit_W0QQitemZ190255647700QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_Wetsuits_WatersportsClothing_CA?hash=item190255647700%26amp;_trksid=p3286.c0.m14%26amp;_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Hope this helps :-)

Roger

That%26#39;s strange that you have had no need for them - maybe it depends on the island but we certainly needed them both times we went, for the loose bits of dead coral in the lagoon. All it takes is one cut from a small bit of razor sharp piece hidden under the sand to ruin your holiday.

I%26#39;d play safe if I were you SJ.

Wid

Hi SJ,

I agree with Roger in that I have never used shoes for walking around an island/beach/sea - but that is just because I do not feel the need.

I do however wear boots in the water as they go hand in hand with my half foot fins and make for easy entry exit over the dead coral in the shallows.

My advice would be to purchase the cheapest %26#39;fashionable%26#39; reef shoes you can get, just for peace of mind. You may not need them, that will depend on the island, but worth having all the same.

Regards

Emu

just back from reethi beach and although a no shoes island was glad of my speedo aqua shoes for that quick dip in the sea, yes for walking along the beach, great on shoes needed but there is bits of dead coral in the shallows, so unless you have rock hard soles I would say bring aqua shoes.

Julie

sorry, no shoes needed for the walk along the beach .

Thanks for all your input. I think I will get the ones that were suggested in the link above, they seem adequate and cheap.

PS I am going to Chaaya Dhonveli Island in March 2010 - shame its so far away.

mixed bag on this one.over the past trips i have seen visitors with quite bad cuts caused by coral and things other folks have left behind.Last visit something cut through my flip within 1mm of my foot.was glad i was wearing something.Individual choice i suppose.

cfc

I assume you mean in when you were in the water in the lagoon?

I have never worn anything on my feet except perhaps flipflops to walk around the island - and most often nothing. My hubby has to wear tennis shoes all the time %26#39;cos of an ankle/foot problem (poor him) but there was no way whatsoever we could have gone into the water by our romm in Vilamendhoo without aquashoes. There was just SO much dead coral up the Eastern end of the island.

Wid

Hiya,

We%26#39;re going to Kurumba in Aug and are definitely going to take aqua shoes with us to wear in the water, hopefully we won%26#39;t need to wear them on the beach- I want the feeling of soft sand running through my toes; don%26#39;t want to have to wear aqua shoes on the beach.

I%26#39;ve searched on the net, you can get some really cheap and nice looking ones (from as little as £5 a pair). Look on the Speedo site aswell.