starbay New Brand Kid's Athletic Water Shoes Aqua Socks Available in 6 Colors

These Starbay Sunville water shoes were a very good buy. We picked up three pairs for each of our three boys and all three have held up well thus far. There is a decently thick and seemingly durable dimpled rubber step that grips well on both wet and dry surfaces. The mesh colored outer layer wraps around a nylon sock to protect from whatever gets walked upon. There is also a drawstring on the back of the heel to create a snug ankle fit, too.HINT: Let these dry in the sun between uses...this will help keep the adhesive that connects the shoe to the rubber sole to not separate from each other. We learned this with our previous pairs.For the price and with reasonable expectations these were an excellent buy for $9/pair...I figure they will last until my boys grow out of them. They run a bit large but since kids grow like weeds that is not too big an issue.Lastly, I realize that this is not the place for seller evaluation, but in light of the negative experience another reviewer had with one company, I figured it permissible to say that Island In The Sun was a great seller that was priced competitively, shipped promptly, corresponded professionally and rectified the fact that one of the three colors we ordered was not sent very quickly.

These are really nice swim shoes. The sole is flexible but also thick and durable. Some swim shoes we have had just had really thin soles and you could still feel every rock. These shoes don't slip on smooth surfaces. The kids could walk fine on a slip-n-slide. Only down fall is the insole. On a few pairs (we have many of this brand) the insole has perforations but it's glued into the shoe. So sand gets into the small holes but you can't remove the insole to clean them. On other pairs the insole is a glued in piece of fabric. Which on one pair was glued in crooked and the gooey glue got on my son's foot. Then the fabric wouldn't stay glued in after sand got on the gooey places.

Great water shoes. They feel very sturdy and comfortable compared to the water shoes of old. A nice thick sole to protect you from submerged rocks, but not enough support that I'd recommend hiking in these or anything! They're great for kayaking and other boating where you may need to get your feet wet. The draw-string in the back allows you to tighten them so they won't slip off in mud, but I wouldn't recommend swimming long distances in these. Good for wading in a lake.I am a grown woman, 5' 2" and I normally wear a woman's size 5. However, shoes have been getting bigger and bigger it seems to me over the years and I've been forced into kid's shoes. I tried a pair in a "Big kid's 3," which is supposed to be the equivalent of a woman's 5, but they were much too big!! I returned and got a "Little Kids 2" and they fit great. So these shoes clearly run a little big. I'd go a size down from what you normally get, especially since you don't want them slipping off in the water. A great buy for the price.

As others have noted, there are several fundamental issues with the shoe. First, the sizing is way off - too large. I first ordered these in a half size larger than my child's shoe size, and they were way too big. Then I ordered it 1.5 sizes smaller than my child's regular shoe size and they were OK. Second, the insole of the shoe is not glued in very well and on one of the shoes, came out on the first day. Perhaps Shoe Goo is a viable solution for that issue. Third, there are no drain holes in the sole, nor along the sides, so unless you turn these upside down or lay them in the sun to dry, water just sits in the bottom of the shoe. Not only does that compound the poor glue issue, but they start to develop a mildew odor. Lastly, are related to the poor insoles and lack of drainage holes, any sand that gets into the shoe is hard to get out because it goes under the insole and doesn't have a good way to drain out. Otherwise, the shoe is ok; the rubber sole and mesh material seem durable. The draw sting closure mechanism seems good enough. I'm not throwing them out, but I would suggest looking elsewhere for a better designed and manufactured product.

We purchased these because we had to have water shoes for our 5 year old for water play at preschool this summer. They fit his feet well, but one very irritating problem is that the adhesive that holds the liner in the bottom of the shoe does not stay put once the foot is submerged in water. We ended up having to take the liner out of both shoes and having him wear them without (which meant that his feet stuck to the inside bottom of the shoe). Very irritating. Also, after a few weeks, one of the adjusters on the back of the shoe (for tightening them around the ankle and heel broke, so we had to put the elastic through what was left and tie a knot in it so the shoe was still usable. We will not be buying these again. They were relatively inexpensive, and I guess we got what we paid for.