- Apollo Bio Fins with Steel Spring Strap
I got these for an early Hanukkah present (courtesy of the most awesomest wife!) and then flew down to Cozumel for quick test!
The pair I have are the Apollo Bio Fin Pro C-Series - with Stainless steel fin strap. Not the extra stiff XT units.
The pair they are replacing are the Tusa Xpert Zoom in black (stiffer).
First Impressions opening the package:
These things are heavy feeling. Soft.
First Impressions in the water:
Wow! You read reviews where they are the fastest and yada yada yada. But WOW! Compared to my Xpert Zooms these things are like rockets. The weight is not even noticed. The spring straps are amazing. No fatigue on my feet due to over tightening. easy to don and doff. If you dont want these fins at least get yourself some spring straps for your other fins.
My Impresisons of the fins:
Now I will state something not every clearly understands. To get the most out of your split fins, you need to use a bicycling type of motion with your legs. Having observed many new divers, they are often told they are "bicycling" when in fact they are not. They are stair stepping. Stair stepping will not yield you anything but tired legs and more air used. Bicycling is when you are using a more circular motion. Imaging riding a unicycle with a freewheel under water in a horizontal position. Thats pretty much what its like.. You want to move forward you just peddle a little and coast to where you want. If you want to fly, you crank it up a bit and watch the scenery move by very quickly.
My Thoughts:
I often hear that you dont need to have fast fins or go fast while scuba diving. Perhaps the diving other people do is very different.
Here are the scenarios I have experienced where a fast fin is needed:
- Shore diving with the wife in Cozumel. We are usually a few feet apart so we dont run into eachother and often one of us is more amused by something that the other. Next thing you know, you are now about 20+ feet away. You need to swim quickly to make up that distance. With the right fins, thats not an issue.
- You are drift diving and have spotted something as the current has swept you by. You now need to swim against the current to get back to what you just saw to admire it more. With the proper fins, thats a easy task. With the wrong ones, you miss out.
Are they everything I thought they would be? YES! Most products these days do not live up to their biased (I dont trust many of the magazines) reviews. These fins certainly do!
