My first time paddling with these booties was surfing my Pyranha in the ocean. The booties were easy to put on and take off. I have size 12 1/2 feet and these did not give be much wiggle room compared to neoprene socks. However, they were reasonably comfortable compared to other booties. I spent over two hours surfing and by then my feet were sore and stiff from not being able to move them around much. They were comfortable walking around and the I got used to the split toe very quickly. The ankle high cuffs kept the water and sand out while the drains in the footbed let the water out after walking in the surf. I think that this is a great shoe for those with smaller feet then mine as the toe and heel reinforcements took up what little room I had.