Taking the family on our first big camper road trip to North Georgia mountains in July. We'll be staying at a RV campground that has streams, waterfalls and some hiking. We're new to this and I have some very "city" daughters and wife. The girls want something to wear on their feet while wading around the streams and ponds and what not, but maybe also something they can wear around the camp ground. In my area, all the yuppie, hipsters are wearing things like Chaco sandals. Are these any good and appropriate? Or should I be looking for something different. They wanted something a little better/"more stylish" than just water shoes.

This is what I get for having all daughters! :)

KEEN

Annnddd.  They can all have different colors so no fighting

My 20 year old water shoes/sandals bit the dirt last year so I recently tried on several.

I the Keen shoes are too closed in for me. I think it would be too hard to get sand and small rocks out when wading.

The Chacos were not comfortable to me. They had some arch support that was too tall and they were a bit on the hard side.

I like the Teva sandals the best. They were more comfortable and just felt better.

I ordered mine from Amazon since they had half sizes that I could not find locally. Plus they were cheaper.

I suggest trying on different brands and styles to see what works for you.

My family of girls have chacos and loves them.  They've been in all sorts of Smoky Mountain streams.  Make sure you get them fitted correctly, because that's 90% of the battle with them.  The heavy soles are good in rocky terrain and the wife says they have great traction on wet rocks.  

I prefer closed-toe sandals and have these Tevas for most water use.  They work well too, but the sole is a tad thinner. Honestly, I don't feel the difference.  Almost all shoes tend to act like rudders when in a good stream, but I've never had experience with dedicated water shoes. Too broke for that lol.  These Tevas have lasted me 2yrs so far and that's near daily use, in and out of water.  I'd say I wear them out 2 days a week in the summer, and always in camp or at the creek.  

Here's some photos of our adventures.




Check sales for outdoors stores around your area and online.  www.alabamaoutdoors.com is a good one.  Catch them on a sale and you won't be so pissed at your family for spending so much.

I'm a Chaco guy.

I like the closed toe Keen. Good support. Drain and dry ok. Small rocks can be a pain but if you learn to flex your foot and swish back and forth just right you can get most to fall out.

Thanks everyone! Going to give the Chaco's a try for the kids and Teva's for me I think. Who knows, I still might try the Chaco's. The Keen's are cool, but I want something a little more open.

Sierra Trading Post has the cheapest price I've seen on Chaco. With the right coupon code you can get the $100 sandals for around $50 and sometimes free shipping.

I have some of the Adidas ones, they are surprisingly comfortable.  I also have some of the Cabelas Guideware fishing shoes that while probably not true water shoes are comfortable as hell.

I had keens in the past and they made my feet sweat and stink pretty bad.  However my dad swears by them and wears them all summer in Montana.

My BIL has had chacos for years with tons of hard outdoor use. I'd bought some cheaper hiking sandals several times that either messed up my feet or just fell apart. Last year I finally bought a pair of chacos and I'm hooked.

I don't think twice about getting my feet wet and they dry really quickly if you're moving. The material is super tough but there's not much of it to hold water.

Well, as an update, I went with Teva's for me. My girls ended up with 2 Keen's and 1 pair of Merrell's. The wife ended up with Keen's as well. All were VERY happy with their choices. However, due to the extensive use of the shoes over the week, blisters did develop, so bandaid's were in great demand.

Thanks for all the help guys!