The Mares Volo Power is an open-heel, closed-toe, paddle-type fin. It will move you through the water just fine but its strength is its buckle system. The buckles allow you to tighten, loosen or unlatch the straps with almost no effort. This comes in handy when you're squeezed onto the cramped bench of a crowded dive boat, leaning in between other divers to muscle your fin straps over your heels. With the Volo Power, you can leave the straps loose, slide your foot into the boot and then easily tighten them down. After the dive, one button allows you to unlatch the buckle and pull your foot out. When shore diving, these buckles are neither an advantage nor disadvantage. In my opinion, the easiest thing when shore diving is to simply leave the straps set to the same length whether you're putting them on, taking them off or actually diving.

As simple as the buckles are to use, they're complicated at first. I futzed with them for about 15 minutes in my living room trying to figure out which button to push to loosen them and how to latch and unlatch them. I finally handed them over to my wife, the engineer in the family. It took her a little while but she eventually figured them out and explained them to me. I haven't had a problem with them since. Let the sales person in the dive shop explain them to you.

My guess is that the buckles are also a physical weak spot. They stick out enough to be easy targets for other gear to hit and then have just enough moving parts to be unable to withstand the blow. My advice is to buy a couple of extras and carry them with you.

The Volo Power are fine when going up the ladder of a dive boat. I wear a size 10 1/2 street shoe, though, and the boots of regular size Volo Powers are not large enough when I dive dry with rock boots on. The large should fit most dry boots.

The Volo Power is a good fin for diving in the northeast, particularly when diving from a boat. Their typical price range is $170 to $190. You can get more information on them at www.mares.com.

Jerry Shine