usvi-on-line
are dive booties necessary?
are dive booties necessary?
My family of four will be in St. John in June. We plan to do a lot of snorkeling and our current fins are the kind you don't (can't) use with booties. Now that I've seen the pictures of what urchins can do to you, I'm wondering if we should invest in booties and new fins?
Are urchins a problem getting in and out of the water at most beaches or is it something that can be avoided assuming a rogue wave doesn't push you around?
Are there any particular areas that we would not be comfortable getting into the water barefoot to snorkel. We definitely want to do Waterlemon Cay. Can you get out and walk around the Cay without water shoes or booties?
Thanks
Are urchins a problem getting in and out of the water at most beaches or is it something that can be avoided assuming a rogue wave doesn't push you around?
Are there any particular areas that we would not be comfortable getting into the water barefoot to snorkel. We definitely want to do Waterlemon Cay. Can you get out and walk around the Cay without water shoes or booties?
Thanks
My opinion is that you don't need booties for snorkeling on St. John. We did Waterlemon with "normal" fins last year and it was fine. You can see the urchins and avoid them. Of course, if you have a wave push you into them, c'est la vie. It's part of the "danger" of snorkeling.
New fins and booties can be expensive. I look at it as a risk/reward type situation. Will spending that extra $ to buy new fins really help you avoid sea urchins any more than NOT buying them? I think not. It sounds like Jim had no choice. He cramped and couldn't respond as he normally would. His accident would have occured whether or not he had booties, from what he's described. (Jim, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going off my memory of your description)
I never saw urchins getting in and out of the sandy beaches when I was snorkeling. I did see them up on the coral, but frankly, you shouldn't be standing on the coral anyway, unless you have a major situation going on and have no other choice.
My 2 cents from someone who once had booties/scuba fins and sold them b/c they were too bulky.
PS - excuse my lesson and I'm sorry if I'm telling you something you already know, but my brief scuba diving career taught me that you should always put fins, mask and snorkel on prior to entering the water. You should shuffle backwards into the water. That way, if a wave knocks you over or there is something on the ocean floor, you're protected and can respond more quickly.
New fins and booties can be expensive. I look at it as a risk/reward type situation. Will spending that extra $ to buy new fins really help you avoid sea urchins any more than NOT buying them? I think not. It sounds like Jim had no choice. He cramped and couldn't respond as he normally would. His accident would have occured whether or not he had booties, from what he's described. (Jim, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going off my memory of your description)
I never saw urchins getting in and out of the sandy beaches when I was snorkeling. I did see them up on the coral, but frankly, you shouldn't be standing on the coral anyway, unless you have a major situation going on and have no other choice.
My 2 cents from someone who once had booties/scuba fins and sold them b/c they were too bulky.
PS - excuse my lesson and I'm sorry if I'm telling you something you already know, but my brief scuba diving career taught me that you should always put fins, mask and snorkel on prior to entering the water. You should shuffle backwards into the water. That way, if a wave knocks you over or there is something on the ocean floor, you're protected and can respond more quickly.
I would agree with almost everthing that alw1977 said. The risk for urchins is present, however, when rocky areas are present as well as coral reefs. Sticking to sandy areas would be a good idea.
I don't know but I have to wonder if some of the spines would have been stopped in the bootie before they got to me.
JIM
PS I never intended to become an expert on sea urchin.
I don't know but I have to wonder if some of the spines would have been stopped in the bootie before they got to me.
JIM
PS I never intended to become an expert on sea urchin.
Man it's like some dream we live down here....
I have low cut lightweight 2 or 3mm snorkel booties (not heavy dive booties) because we do not have the full foot fins but have the strap fins and wanted to prevent rubbing that could result in hot spots, blisters etc. They work well for that.
These booties are used with short light weight snorkel fins (not those heavy rubber things) and the booties weigh maybe a few ounces so that is not an issue. These kind of snorkel fins can be relatively inexpensive, although you could be looking at buying 4 pair.
Indeed it is much easier to walk in backwards on a sand beach with fins on bit I find it really hard to negoiate rocks with fins on and my wife fell at Waterlemon doing just that with her hand landing on an urchin.
I have found it easier and maybe safer to see better where I am going and carefully pick my way over/between rocks like at Waterlemon without the fins on but with the booties on and then put the fins on a little ways from shore.
These booties do give me some protection from rough rocks etc vs bare feet but may not make much of a difference if you stomp on a sea urchin. Perhaps heavier duty dive booties of maybe 5mm+ thickness would afford more protection, but these would certainly be bulkier than what I have.
More to fuss with but always glad I have the booties on at rocky entry/exit points like you can have at Waterlemon.
These booties are used with short light weight snorkel fins (not those heavy rubber things) and the booties weigh maybe a few ounces so that is not an issue. These kind of snorkel fins can be relatively inexpensive, although you could be looking at buying 4 pair.
Indeed it is much easier to walk in backwards on a sand beach with fins on bit I find it really hard to negoiate rocks with fins on and my wife fell at Waterlemon doing just that with her hand landing on an urchin.
I have found it easier and maybe safer to see better where I am going and carefully pick my way over/between rocks like at Waterlemon without the fins on but with the booties on and then put the fins on a little ways from shore.
These booties do give me some protection from rough rocks etc vs bare feet but may not make much of a difference if you stomp on a sea urchin. Perhaps heavier duty dive booties of maybe 5mm+ thickness would afford more protection, but these would certainly be bulkier than what I have.
More to fuss with but always glad I have the booties on at rocky entry/exit points like you can have at Waterlemon.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
I have short neoprene booties which I don't always use with my fins. They do prevent rubbing as jmq said, especially on a longer snorkel. I used them when we snorkeled the Baths. We swam in from the boat, snorkeled, then hiked through the rock formations, it was nice to have something on my feet for the hike.
I have the fins that require dive booties, but for our trip earlier this month, I tried the fins with basic water shoes. It worked fine.
The reason I liked it was you can wear the shoes on the walk to the beach (we did Waterlemon), slip your fins on and you're good to go.
Water shoes are usually only between $10-$20. They won't protect your upper ankle or lower calf against urchins, but it does give the sole of your foot some added protection.
The reason I liked it was you can wear the shoes on the walk to the beach (we did Waterlemon), slip your fins on and you're good to go.
Water shoes are usually only between $10-$20. They won't protect your upper ankle or lower calf against urchins, but it does give the sole of your foot some added protection.
My fins don't work with booties either, but I own booties (very thin 3mm short ones).
I agree with a previous poster who said the best course is to put all your gear on and shuffle in backward, but that is sometimes very difficult with rocks or waves.
My solution is to wear my booties in and carry my fins until I get into water deep enough to be past most rocks and so that I can crouch down to resist the wave action. I take the booties off, chuck them as far as I can up on the beach (or have hubby, whose fins work with booties, take them back up to our gear) and put on my fins in the water.
I think you can live without booties and would say you definitely don't need to replace your fins and you'll be just fine. Most places don't have urchins at the entry (Haulover North, as I recall, is an exception). You're at just as high a risk of slipping on entry, falling over, and getting an urchin stab in the hand or bum.
I agree with a previous poster who said the best course is to put all your gear on and shuffle in backward, but that is sometimes very difficult with rocks or waves.
My solution is to wear my booties in and carry my fins until I get into water deep enough to be past most rocks and so that I can crouch down to resist the wave action. I take the booties off, chuck them as far as I can up on the beach (or have hubby, whose fins work with booties, take them back up to our gear) and put on my fins in the water.
I think you can live without booties and would say you definitely don't need to replace your fins and you'll be just fine. Most places don't have urchins at the entry (Haulover North, as I recall, is an exception). You're at just as high a risk of slipping on entry, falling over, and getting an urchin stab in the hand or bum.
Jennifer
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
Keep in mind that near rocky entrances and around cays there is almost always coral in very shallow water. So even if there aren’t sea urchins, you could be stepping on coral.
There is a small sandy beach on the southish end of Waterlemon Cay where you can get out of the water and take a break. Swim counterclockwise around the cay and the beach starts at about 9 o'clock.
You can see it in this picture:
Happy snorkeling
There is a small sandy beach on the southish end of Waterlemon Cay where you can get out of the water and take a break. Swim counterclockwise around the cay and the beach starts at about 9 o'clock.
You can see it in this picture:
Happy snorkeling
We've tried it every which way--booties, no botties, walking in barefoot, etc. What we finally decided works for us is to wear our hiking sandals into the water, carrying our fins. The sandals grip the rocks for entry at beaches with slippery rocks like Blue Cobblestone, Haulover, Kiddle, Waterlemon, etc. Then, we swim out into deeper water, take the sandals off, and put on our fins. We both wear board shorts into the water, and tie our sandals to the board shorts with the waist string. When it's time to get out, we remove our fins and put the sandals back on for the exit, then swim in to shore.
Note that if you step on an urchin nothing is going to protect you--their spines can go right though the dive booties.
Note that if you step on an urchin nothing is going to protect you--their spines can go right though the dive booties.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Teresa Rae, great photo and information on Waterlemon Cay. Thanks for letting me know where the sandy beach is--we definitely don't want to walk on the coral. We went to Hawaii last year and were amazed and annoyed by how many people walk on the coral. And these were people who were snorkeling, so you know they could see what they are walking on! Oh well...
Yes. Use dive booties. They are a big aid in getting into the water where it's rocky, which is at most of the beaches on STJ. Sea uchins wander among rocks as well as coral, as well as on the sandy bottom occassionally. The preferred way to get in the water is: walk in, gear in hand. (And booties on feet, if applicable.) Once in waist-deep water, put mask & snorkel around neck. Slip feet into fins (one foot at a time). The water will support you, and you won't look like a tourist walking backwards into the water! Finally, put mask over face, secure it, fall back into water and float. Don't forget to clear your snorkel - and stay off the coral.
peace.... bert
peace.... bert