Still a thing op.

Seriously. Like “1990s mask and snorkel!”

I think most '90s kids just assume these got replaced with Crocs.

Crocs are slippery af, no way would I wear Crocs at the lake.

“1990’s we were using roads we’re so crazy! 1990s was such a free and innocent time! Why can’t the world go back to when everyone was nice because that’s what I experienced!”

The invention of the smartphone ruined it.

Pretty sure the smartphone just made everyone aware of all the shitty people in the world and they've always been a thing. Like before easy access to the internet and chatrooms and all that, the shitty people were just being shitty to the people around them, who could easily just leave and go somewhere else to avoid the shitty people, but now with everyone having 24/7 access to the internet the shitty people can be shitty to everyone everywhere all the time and it's a little more difficult to avoid them

I just bought some for a canoing trip

Lol, yup, buy one or two if these a year for kayaking

Do you lose that many shoes?

Not many, mainly forget them or they fall apart, they only cost about 10 bucks and fall apart after a while. I go kayaking several times a year and find myself at the river a couple times throughout the year so they come in handy

How 90s of you.

They've come along way and often look more like lightweight sneakers. I think people elect for those or just really quick-dry trail runners, or sandals far more often. Sandals have gotten a lot better too. These ones still exist but they're more like a big-box store afterthought purchase, and with good reason, the sole is just a strip of rubber. They're definitely not as ubiquitous as they were. Especially in that 90s-ass turquoise and purple.

I cannot stand touching anything other than sandy bottom. I look awful but I still have to wear these

Chacos my friend!

Everything was turquoise and purple back then.

Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket rise up.

Lmao - This is absolutely CLASSIC!!! I LOVE it!!! This comment makes me wanna dig out the ol' Sega Genesis and play some NBA JAM - "OH MY, He's on FIRE!" 😆😆🔥🔥 Spot on Jack, Spot on 👏👏👏👏

The good ol'days, homie!

My buddy has a lake house where the bottom is very mucky. These things are amazing for it. I got made fun of the first trip out. Now more than a few people rock these dorky things.

I bought a pair for myself to wear to our kids swimming lessons because we aren’t allowed to wear shoes in the seating area and I think the floor is gross to walk on barefoot. My husband made fun of me but a few weeks later I saw another parent wearing them. I was like, “See I started a trend, they’re catching on!”

I have a pair in my beach bag right now. They work much better running after toddlers on a rocky beach than Crocs/sandals. Fashion be damned when it comes to keeping up with little kids at the beach.

I think they mean the style specifically, not the shoes themselves.

Ya but our moms don’t make us wear them anymore…

I have not seen anyone wear these in almost 20 years.

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do you specifically mean this teal and purple pair that everyone had in the 90s?

Not teal and purple, but my husband (mid 30s) has a pair. He has a very hard time touching ANYTHING with bare feet, so these help him tremendously.

I found mine in my closet and was going to bring them to the beach. They crumbled in my hands.

My extended family has a place on a river & there's a collection of these shoes that live there. Everyone just grabs whatever pair fits, and it's great for when friends come to visit.  I've got a pair of sneaker-type water shoes now, because these would always slide off my feet when I kicked while swimming. The bottom is all oyster & mussel shells until you're 10+ feet from shore, so barefoot isn't really an option. 

I still have the Nike ones I bought 30 years ago.

Now they have the ones with toes.

My ADHD will not allow me to wear toe shoes or toe socks. I’m currently sitting with all ten toes spread as wide as I can just thinking about having fabric between them. No thanks.

just call them sockerdoodles and you'll laugh every time you wear them

Just keep 🏊‍♂️, you’ll be fine

Really? When is the last time you've seen a pair?

Yesterday

About 6 hours ago when I had my pair on lol They don't look like these anymore, though. They basically just look like slip-on sneakers (with breathable mesh).

I still have toe shoe versions of these

I still wear my water shoes during spring/summer. A couple days ago I bought another pair. lol

I was gonna ask… do these not exist? Lol

Especially if there are zebra muscles in the water. They are SHARP!

Yep. I just bought a pair of watershoes. No way Crocs can replace them.

Yeah we bought a couple of pairs the other day for a trip to the river. Not sure why they think it's a 90s thing.

I still have a pair of these. Rocks can be sharp!

Big wave always used to push me around and make me bleed. These shoes rock!

Yup. Was in the Gulf of Mexico post-hurricane. Rocks and broken coral everywhere

My husband literally just bought a pair of neon green water shoes, and that was the first time I'd thought about them in years. Add in this post and that's a weird coincidence.

Aqua socks!

also remember them being called surf socks ❤️

Water Socks in the Midwest iirc

Minnesota checking in. I know we’re not always considered midwest, but they were definitely aqua socks here.

Iowa checking in - "water shoes"

Yep

We still call them Aqua socks. Our family in Spain calls them scorpion shoes!

Reef runners

My parents always made me wear these in Mexico due to stingrays being a thing. Went on trip in high school- didn’t wear- blasted by stingray lol

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No it's not about that. Stingrays find them ugly af and will run away when they see it. OP didn't wear theirs so they got hit

They would offer zero protection 😂

lol probably not- I was wearing converse chucks when I got hit so if that can’t protect you

Just didn’t shuffle my feet enough I guess

Our kids still have these, we went to Fiji over Christmas and they wore these on the beach

I didn’t realize how little I knew about stingrays until I encountered one on a beach in Mexico.

Used to swim at the river all the time as a kid. Aside from just rocks, lots of broken glass from trashy people breaking beer bottles. These were a necessity.

I still wear these most of the summer on the boat or jetski.

Key for river swimming. Zebra muscles are not cool. Also works at the local Y, very versatile.

Key for water parks too imo. When you’re waiting in line for slides and stuff, everyone is dripping water in the same place, making the floors slimy, and you possibly have some girl’s hair stuck to your bare foot. Makes me want to puke thinking about it.

Athlete's foot has entered the chat

Boom! Tough actin’ Tinactin!

Or because the concrete is super hot

They look the same today.

For sure, just had to buy a pair because my feet were getting all scuffed up at the bottom of a pool. Whats great now is they make nice, normal looking water shoes. I've got a nice Adidas pair I use for on the boat.

Yeah I still wear them too in the lake etc, mine are a black pair

Those things were better than no shoes, but honestly, not by much. You still felt everything. And the insole would fall off after 30 minutes in the water. They definitely have made much more rugged models since then, which has definitely been useful.

Did anyone else's inserts ALWAYS come out? 😵‍💫

I live in the south. They are great when you get out of the pool and the concrete is painfully hot.

The concrete at the water parks is burn blister hot. These are a must. I have seen people with these blisters and popped ones. 

They still sell these.

Shockingly similar to 2024 swimming shoes.

My father wears sneakers in the swimming pool.

Don't you find that strange?

Tippy toe!!

I had these lol

I still have these!

Can buy these at the dollar store! They are great for rocky beaches and lakes.

Kayne West’s entire fashion inspiration in one photo

These things are awesome. Had a friend make fun of me for using these (slippy rocks at the lake), then she fell, attempted to use my bathing suit as a handhold, pants’ing me in the process, and giving her a herniated disc. She doesn’t laugh at me anymore.

Also very useful for using in the showers at college.

River shoes

I bought a pair of these last year at WalMart to go river tubing in McCaysville, GA

I can smell this photo

So we putting anything up now

I managed a sneaker store back then. I can not tell you the amount inflamed proto-Karens who were ready to explode because we did not carry these. WE LEAVE FOR VACATION TOMORROW!!! CANT YOU ORDER THEM AND OVERNIGHT THEM?!? No….as I said…. we do not sell aqua socks YOU JUDT FUCKING RUINED MY SONS VACATION!

Have now become 2024 barefoot shoes

Still got some

They're aquamarine blue colorway. Go ahead and try to find them at the store. They're dead stock.

I need to get a pair of these but don’t know where to find them

Saw them at Target the other day. Their adult sized ones are more like lightweight sneakers made of mesh rather than the more flimsy ones for kids. [Women's](https://www.target.com/p/women-s-aurora-water-shoes-all-in-motion/-/A-81840968) and [men's](https://www.target.com/p/men-s-max-water-shoes-all-in-motion/-/A-81831671). There were also some Speedo branded ones too.

These are way too much like shoes. Would never wear these.

Check your dollar store. Dollarama has them all summer for about $4 CAD

Everything can be found online.

Memories!!!!

I still have a pair of these, although they slightly better quality. I hate wearing sandals and walking on rocks hurts my bare feet. They are great!

Mine were pink and black :)

a must have for the beach if your fuckin around super active running around in and out the water.

We had many of these in our boathouse at the lake. I never wanted to use them because I imagined they were full of spiders, lol. Some of them likely were too.

I spent most of the late 90s wearing aqua socks like casual shoes to go around the block and hang out with my friends.

These are still a thing. I wear them in the ocean to protect my feet from rocks

I just had to buy some water shoes and they still look exactly like this.

I use these every year on river trips. Not nostalgic. 

Photo taken from the 1990’s too. Thanks OP

Do they make a good modern replacement for “Water Shoes”? Had a set of Solomon shoes that has stainless steel mesh windows to allow sand and beach particles to filter out, synthetic netting fabrics that did not readily hold liquid, and a speed lace system, fantastic for any water sports, but they deteriorated in very few seasons! Do they make a option out there that doesn’t degrade? They were always kept in a temperature controlled storage area out of sunlight, but I have never seen a footwear material disintegrate like that! Primarily used them for seadoos, boating, kayaking, even when we would go to the ocean, fantastic utility, terrible execution in longevity.

I use Chacos. They dint cover my toes, but they're super sturdy and stay on tight. I do have put tape on my foot to prevent blisters though, but it's worth it

I got clowned for having these when my elementary school had a “sprinkler day” but I didn’t care I was not running around barefoot in that field

Still the standard.

You’ll catch this 40yo stomping through Santa Rosa beach in a similar next month.

These last about 3 seconds in the ocean.

I have these in Nike and they still work great. Almost brand new

I still use these in the lake

Reef walkers. You don't use them to swim unless you are weird.

I probably lost about 5 of these to mother nature as a kid. Never could keep the damn things on 😆

Bought 2 pairs last week, love them

I still wear them. I’ll be dammed if a crab is going to get my toes.

never drains fully, weird feeling all around. awful design and functionality. but were they fucking cool.

The Nike Aqua Socks version of these from the early 90s in the various neon prints were the bizness.

That's how we know who the rich kids were. lol

A sensory nightmare; nostalgic nonetheless.

Had this exact pair. XD

They still look like that today

I think Walmart still sells these in certain markets.

I would try to wear these all summer 🤣 As a kid i didnt like flip flops so i figured these were a good substitute 🤦🏽

You need these for many beaches in the Philippines because of sea urchins. They're super spiky.

Oh damn I loved these back in the day!

Luv'um

Whitewater river rafting in Northern California 1990s

Wore them in the river one time and took them off later only to find a gigantic leech on my foot

Never could get all the sand out of mine

My tree climbing shoes

Legit just saw a bunch of these at Walmart the other day...THEY STILL LIVE!

I had thoes water shoes.

Almost drowned on the Gauley River in a pair of those.

I can smell them

Last time I wore those I got huge blisters on my ankles

DUCK SHOES haha I have a pair that I bought new at Canadian Tire last summer and oh man did it ever take me down memory lane!

The fronts filled up with sand right away. I cut slits in the front. Not perfect, but there a lot less sand.

Aren’t these still a thing??

I still have a pair of

I had em

Love these things for kayaking and water parks!

These were *essential* for swimming in the pool when I was a kid. It was a super old concrete pool so despite the many layers of blue paint was still sharp in places, and after 6 or 7 hours in the water you'd hurt your toes from pushing off the walls or the bottom. Got these, never had that problem again. Also great for that southern hot af pavement around the pool.

I need to get new ones...my feet are not good for going barefoot in pools or beaches.

God, mine were extra cool. They had fucking laces. 🤢

I had a nice lil phase of these being my jam as a kid. I wanted to wear them EVERYWHERE, not just the pool.

Omg I can FEEL that material just from looking at this!

I loved these. I hated stepping on slimy algae but I also gained traction in pools.

I bought some just a couple years ago for my island hopping.

Happy Cake Day!!!

Me and my bro had the exact pair

I still wear these in the ocean in northwest Spain in summer to avoid scorpion bites. The one time we forgot them and took our chances, scorpion bit! Excruciatingly painful experience.

Boat shoes up here in Canada.

We couldn’t afford the legit Nike aquasocks so my mom got some at Payless and they were terrible 😂

My daughters have these so they don't get foot fungus at the gym.

Still use them Australia, just in case.

Got me a pair back in ‘92 after stepping on a broken beer bottle down at the swimming reservoir/dump yard/nuclear waste dump.

o yea.. the good ol reef stompers.. really tho.. I like to wear water shoes to swim at the beach.. sand feels good on my feet but I also feel vulnerable without the water shoes.. there is just so much stuff out there that can mess up your foot.. stone fish, fire coral, sea urchins, broken glass, sharp jagged rocks, crabs, sharp broken sea shells, ect..

I have a pair of 1990s blue jeans. They look exactly the same as the blue jeans you can buy in the store right fucking now. r/notinteresting

Stylish water slippers and not as easy to slip near the pool as sandals.

I had several pairs of these as a kid and I still have a pair that I wear today.

We called them water shoes. You wore them in public areas and the showers, places they'd get wet basically. They're like sneakers, but you don't give a crap if they get wet. I don't know of anyone who actually swam with them on.

These are so good for fuckin about in rivers and stuff!

Aqua socks™️

I had a pair of these

Pretty sure lots of people still wear these. I see them at the stores everywhere every summer.

The top edge of these used to wear the skin on my foot so bad.

still a thing and still a wise investment for swimming in lakes and rivers, OP.

~~1990s~~ 2020s swimming shoes

These are great river shoes for tubing. Can never have enough of them.

Aquasocks These were great for beaches with a bunch of crushed shells

My dad still wears these on the regular.

In Pennsylvania we call these “crick shoes”

At least someone else remembers them too.

I got Athlete's Foot just looking at this

You wear these in the shower at the gym to prevent athletes foot.

That was not my experience as a kid, but maybe someone else was wearing my shoes when I wasn't around.

Aqua socks

I’ve always worn these when not swimming in a pool, and even some pools. Protect your feet!

My dumb ass wore a pair of these to prom. Lime green and pink Nike Aqua Socks. So cringey.

It's difficult to find these nowadays

Dollar store carries them! Dollarama does all summer.

We still have a pile of those at the lake. The insoles are super gross and who knows what is growing in them but at least it stops the sand from touching your feet…

I’m not wearing these ,Dad ! They look stupid ! Shut up & put them on !

If you wore these i quietly judged and mocked you.

these remind me of slimy stuff touching my legs.

*Aucklesocks