Water shoes - yay or nay

[jagron11]

Seen some sites saying they are a must. DW thinks they’re a waste. What say you DIS boards. Kids are 11, 9, 7, 5. Would be more for them then us. Does the ground get that hot? More worried about that than hikes/coral, we don’t plan on doing much of that.

 

[kyton]

For the lagoon - no, not needed. The sand is nice and there are minimal rocks.

Waikiki can be rocky in areas so some people use them.

We visit Oahu at least once a year since 2011 and our kids have never had water shoes yet. They wear flip flops to the place we sit then walk in bare feet every where else.

 

[Lx3]

The pool deck gets hot durning the day. I would recommend them.

 

[Jperiod]

My kids like sand socks, like for beach volleyball, but they work for pool decks and swimming too. DS wore them all the time, DD only sometimes, but I always had them with us.

 

[Wild4Walt]

If you're used how hot the sand can get in say, Florida, you may not need them.

If you're like me and from Illinois where we only get about 4 months of sun a year, then I'd pack them. The Hawaii sand and pool areas can get hot.

 

[cedricandsophie]

The pool deck gets very slippery. I always wear water shoes or sandals with slip proof soles when walking anywhere. For me it’s not the heat. It’s the fear of falling.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

my kids never wore them at Aulani but they do wear them when we go outside of the resort to other beaches just to keep their feet protected from rocks. At the resort they have their flip flops and just take them off at our chairs before they run to the pool/beach.

 

[wendlle]

I love water shoes and use them all the time BUT didn't use them at all at Aulani. I didn't need them.

 

[jillt2ph]

The pool deck gets very slippery. I always wear water shoes or sandals with slip proof soles when walking anywhere. For me it’s not the heat. It’s the fear of falling.

This! I had a pair that was not slip proof and had an awkward slip on the stairs in the adult pool.

 

[cgattis]

We wore our Chacos most everywhere in Hawaii. They pretty much worked for us in every situation—protection when we needed and easy to kick off when not. Not sure if you’re venturing outside Aulani, but most places we visited, I was glad to have something more substantial than flip flops to get TO the water, but we never needed them in the water anywhere (although I know there are places with rough bottoms). We wore actual water shoes in the water at Sharks Cove because the rocks/coral there are very sharp.

 

[nkereina]

We never used water shoes, but you do need some kind of shoe (flip flop, water shoe, or otherwise) when walking across the sand and pool deck. Its very hot. But as mentioned, the lagoon is not rocky or slippery so no need for it there. They may come in handy if you're going to a few public beaches that may be rocky, but even still, we never used them.