The Best Water Shoes for Women of 2025

Looking for the very best water sneakers can really feel like navigating a sea of infinite choices and variations. However concern not — our complete purchaser’s information to the very best water sneakers for girls will steer you in the best route.

For years, our group at GearJunkie has pushed the bounds of water sneakers on canyon explorations, river floats, waterfall hikes, and extra. We examined within the gloomy Pacific Northwest and the new desert Southwest, throughout rocky trails and muddy paths, simple day floats and raucous month-long Grand Canyon floats. For this information, we paid explicit consideration to every shoe’s quick-drying skills, versatility, insulation, and elegance.

Our high decide, the Salomon Techamphibian 5 Girls’s Water Shoe, is a rugged, succesful, high-performing possibility that’s preferrred for every type of journey on water and on land. The Astral Loyak ($95), our most trendy possibility, is a trendy, low-profile water shoe that strikes nicely from city to path and again. Whether or not you’re seeing a shoe for floating down a river, climbing by a canyon, or happening a paddleboarding journey, we’ve acquired you lined.

Editor’s Observe: On Might 15, 2025, we up to date our Water Footwear for Girls information by including the versatile Astral Brewer 3.0, the multi-sport Teva Hydratek CT, and the tried-and-true KEEN Newport H2.

The Finest Water Footwear for Girls

Different Water Footwear Price A Look

Water Footwear for Girls Comparability Desk

How We Examined Water Footwear for Girls

Our Knowledgeable Testers

Lead tester Emma Renly wears water sneakers most days of her life. Whether or not she’s on the river, climbing by creeks, or round city operating errands within the rain, she’s typically searching for footwear that’s long-lasting, quick-drying, and handsome.

Emma, a information and outside lover, has been placing gear, particularly water sneakers, by the wringer for over a decade. She’s glued collectively Chacos in order that they’d final a full season of raft guiding, worn out Xtratufs so lengthy that they’ve acquired holes, and gotten mould on Birkenstocks from fixed use in water. She’s additionally misplaced loads of pairs to the river gods once they by chance float downstream by themselves. Editor, Chris Kassar, is extra of a land lover, however she loves enjoying within the land close to water, so she was the last word testing associate to Renly. Kassar put many of those sneakers to the take a look at on riverside hikes and waterfall scrambles to make sure we acquired an entire image of efficiency.

Our Testing Grounds & Course of

For this evaluation, we examined 15 completely different water sneakers. Some had been higher for rafting, others for climbing by canyons, and a few for lounging. Regardless of this, there have been two frequent denominators present in each pair:

1. Every claimed to have quick-drying materials, whatever the model.
2. Each pair had rubber soles for a greater grip on the rock.

We took the muddy trails of the Pacific Northwest, desert creeks in Moab, Utah and the numerous terrain of the Tetons and Snake River. We additionally ran errands, walked alongside sandy seashores, and went on river journeys. Late winter and early spring situations assorted considerably. Some days had been moist and wet, whereas others had been dry and sunny.

To check the claims of the quick-drying materials, we submerged the sneakers in water and left them out in direct daylight to dry. There was minimal wind on this explicit day, and the experiment gave us nice perception into which supplies really dry the quickest.

Purchaser’s Information: The best way to Select the Finest Water Footwear for Girls

Wading by (pun meant), the huge array of water sneakers to search out your good one could appear tough, particularly should you’re making an attempt to sort out all of it on-line. That’s why we’re simplifying the choice by providing suggestions that will help you uncover the perfect water shoe to satisfy your particular necessities.

Water sneakers for girls are designed for aquatic adventures, the place you’ll actually get your ft moist. They’re created for versatility in exercise, from strolling round city to crossing creeks on a hike.

Water sneakers are product of quick-drying supplies and have extra sturdy soles than common sneakers. They’re an important gear aspect for individuals who do water-related actions and might present extra safety than going barefoot.

Water sneakers usually are not essentially waterproof by design. However, they include quick-drying and waterproof supplies, that means they won’t maintain your ft dry if submerged in water however shed water rapidly.

This information focuses solely on water sneakers, which we differentiated from sandals (learn extra under). In the event you’re searching for a sandal, take a look at our Finest Mountain climbing Sandals or Finest Sandals for Girls guides. In the event you’re searching for a shoe, take a look at our Finest Path Operating Footwear for Girls or Finest Mountain climbing Footwear for Girls.

Versatility

Guarantee your choice matches the actions or environments the place you’ll put on the water shoe. We choose water sneakers versatile sufficient to deal with varied conditions and climates. Footwear like this reduce the variety of pairs we have to buy.

We discovered the Astral Brewer 3.0, adopted intently by the Teva Hydratek CT, to be essentially the most versatile water sneakers because of their informal sneaker-like design and talent to carry out nicely on hikes, throughout water sports activities, and round city. You’ll be able to guess they’ll be our tester’s go-to sneakers if she’s on the river within the Pacific Northwest. The Brewer’s sister shoe, the Astral Loyak, is analogous in versatility however with a bit much less foot assist.

Grip

Every sole materials utilized in water sneakers gives distinct benefits and drawbacks, notably regarding grip. Whereas some sneakers give actual particulars on the fabric utilized in building, lots of the manufacturers left it as an open-ended guessing sport.

The Hydro Moc, Xtratuf Riptide Sandals, and DLGJPA Footwear have a foam-like backside created by Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), which is much less grippy and sturdy than the rubber counterparts of the opposite sneakers. EVA is a crack-resilient materials however can also be a plastic 7 materials, which makes it tough to recycle.

Whereas we will’t communicate to the recyclability of the rubber from the opposite water sneakers, just a few corporations use their proprietary rubber materials in shoe building. Astral makes use of G.15 Rubber in its Brewer 3.0 and Loyak W’s, which is abrasion-resistant and wonderful for grip on moist or dry surfaces.

Teva makes use of recycled spider rubber for its sneakers, together with the Girls’s Outflow Common Sandal, although we couldn’t discover rather more details about that particular rubber.

In the event you plan to hike quite a bit throughout your aquatic adventures,  you positively need to select light-weight sneakers that present strong traction and assist the foot nicely. Throughout our testing, the choice that was taken for hike-ability was the Xtratuf Kiata (with the Salomon Techamphibian 5 and Xero Footwear Aqua X Sport), developing shut behind.

Water Footwear vs. Water Sandals

The class of water sneakers is widespread. Nevertheless, one technique to differentiate it’s by separating it from water sandals. We do know that the Eager Girls’s Hyperport H2 Sandal and the KEEN Newport H2 are particularly known as sandals, however hold in there for a proof.

The water sneakers featured on this record have a closed-toe building (Salomon Techamphibian 5 even has a bolstered toecap), quick-drying supplies, and a drainage system to permit water to flee. Because of this, regardless that they’re known as Teva Hydratek CT Sandal, Xtratuf Riptide Sandal and KEEN Hyperport Sandal, we embrace them within the water shoe record.

For instance, the DLGJPA Footwear utterly drained inside seconds. Water sandals have an open-toe design with a number of or singular straps throughout the foot.

Sandals have minimal cushioning and foot assist in comparison with water sneakers, that means particles can get trapped between the sandal and the foot. Whether or not you select a water shoe or sandal is dependent upon your particular wants and actions.

Fast-Lace System vs. Velcro System vs. Lace-Up System

All proper, it’s time to debate shoe adjustment. Your preferrred decide will rely in your desired stage of adjustability and comfort.

The fast-lace system is featured in 4 water sneakers on this record: Salomon Techamphibian 5, KEEN Hyperport Sandal, DLGJPA Footwear, and Xero Footwear Aqua X Sport. It’s handy and gives a customizable adjustment to your foot dimension for a safe match.

Velcro programs, as we see on the Teva Girls’s Outflow Common Sandal, aren’t our favourite, however they’re additionally handy. The NRS Girls’s Kicker Wetshoe additionally makes use of Velcro, and similar to within the Teva, we had bother cinching it down sufficient to get a comfortable match. One other tidbit to contemplate: the Velcro might put on out over time. 

Lastly, nothing is extra basic than an excellent ol’ lace-up system in a shoe. The Astral Loyak, Astral Brewer 3.0, and the Xtratuf Kiata are the one choices on the record that put it to use, and due to that, they’ve a extra sneaker-ish type than any of the opposite water sneakers. The lace-up system has the identical adjustment because the quick-lace system, however typically takes extra time to tie up.

How Fast Is Fast-Drying?

When shopping for a water shoe, practically the entire choices declare to be “quick-drying.” Nevertheless, it may be powerful to know which of them will dry rapidly and not using a deep information of supplies utilized in building. So, as a substitute of taking every model’s phrase for it, we did a mini-experiment with every shoe by testing drying capabilities in direct daylight.

Neoprene, seen solely on the NRS Girls’s Kicker Wetshoe, dried the quickest. It’s an artificial rubber that maintains flexibility over varied temperatures (which is why it’s so prevalent in wetsuits). Inside an hour, the sneakers’ inside and exterior had been dry, which galvanized us and made us want extra corporations explored the potential for incorporating neoprene within the design.

Apart from Merrell Girls’s Hydro Moc and Xtratuf Riptide Sandal (which use a efficiency foam that doesn’t soak up water), we had bother deciphering the precise supplies utilized in every pair of water sneakers. This implies we couldn’t accurately correlate how quick-drying a water shoe was to the fabric comprising it.

However, typically, simply trying on the shoe gave us a touch into drying instances. For instance, the Salomon Techamphibian 5 Girls’s Water Shoe and Xero Footwear Aqua X Sport — which ranked subsequent in drying time- use light-weight, mesh materials to create a profitable quick-drying combo.

Getting the Proper Fit

Reaching the correct match is crucial for general efficiency, harm prevention, and long-term consolation. Adjustable straps and laces make it simple to customise the match.

Look, we completely love the Merrell Girls’s Hydro Moc. However, realistically, there’s no adjustment to get a comfortable match. If we had been to attempt to swim in them, they’d fall proper off, and if we had been to put on them on lengthy hikes, they’d start to get fairly uncomfortable. Different water sneakers, such because the  Salomon Techamphibian 5 and Xero Footwear Aqua X Sport, are a lot snugger and higher for long-term consolation.

One other consideration is whether or not the sneakers are available in half sizes or provide extensive/slim width choices to make sure the very best match doable. In the event that they don’t appear to be they’d match, it may be greatest to look elsewhere.

Weight

Weight can have a big influence in relation to water sneakers. 

Journey: Are you backpacking with further water sneakers? Are you bringing them on an airplane? Are they a last-minute addition to the shoe quiver? These questions are vital to ask when packing a pair of water sneakers. The Astral Loyak is a superb alternative for journey because of its versatility, flexibility, and light-weight building (solely 0.8 kilos!).

Efficiency: Contemplating shoe weight on a hike is crucial for much less joint pressure and elevated agility. Footwear like Xero Footwear Aqua X Sport (0.78 kilos) don’t soak up a lot water and can stay light-weight when crossing creeks.

Nevertheless, sneakers like Teva Girls’s Outflow Common Sandal (1.48 kilos) and Astral Brewer 3.0 (1 pound) have supplies that each soak up plenty of water and can add to the general weight. Not preferrred.

Utilizing Socks With Water Footwear

Not a single water shoe on this record requires socks! And we wouldn’t essentially suggest sporting socks with sneakers for water actions, because it typically results in discomfort if and once they turn out to be moist. Most of them are suitable with socks or dry fits; the Astral Brewer 3.0 is particularly nice for that objective.

Continuously Requested Questions

Water sneakers are designed for aquatic adventures, the place you’ll actually get your ft moist. They’re created for versatility in exercise, from strolling round city to crossing creeks on a hike.

Water sneakers are product of quick-drying supplies and have extra sturdy soles than common sneakers. They’re an important gear aspect for individuals who do water-related actions and might present further safety than going barefoot.

Sure! Practically all these sneakers on this evaluation carry out nicely as common day-to-day sneakers, besides the NRS Girls’s Kicker Wetshoe, particularly designed for moist environments and constructed from neoprene. Whereas strolling on round in them for slightly below a mile, we discovered the material to be uncomfortable as a result of A) moist neoprene isn’t that comfy to stroll round in and B) the match is free.

In reality, we wore each the Merrell Girls’s Hydro Moc, the Xtratuf Kiatas and Astral Loyak in non-adventurous settings! Water sneakers are versatile sufficient to function comfy and useful footwear choices for informal outings, errands, or mild actions.

Water sneakers usually are not essentially waterproof by design however are constructed from quick-drying and waterproof supplies. This implies they won’t maintain your ft dry if submerged in water however are designed to shed water rapidly.

The Merrell Girls’s Hydro Moc and the Xtratuf Riptide Sandal are distinctive choices. They’re made utterly of waterproof foam, however your ft will turn out to be moist should you put on it in water.

Sure, swimming comfortably in water sneakers is feasible, relying on design and building. Among the many water sneakers listed, these with lighter weights and extra streamlined designs are typically extra appropriate for swimming. With this in thoughts, the Xero Footwear Aqua X Sport, Salomon Techamphibian 5, and DLGJPA Footwear are the best to swim in because of their building and light-weight.