The Shoes That Ended the Bootie-Drain Struggle: My First Month With CROSSKIX

⭐ There are certain moments in diving where you catch yourself doing something ridiculous and think:
“Okay… there has to be a better way.”

For me, one of those moments has always been the bootie drain dance.

If you’re a diver, you know exactly what I mean.
You climb back onto the boat, try to walk normally, and instantly realize your neoprene booties are holding approximately seventeen gallons of seawater.

So you find a rail, hike your leg up like you’re prepping for a CrossFit warmup, and start twisting, stretching, and contorting yourself into positions that absolutely no physiotherapist would approve of.

And even after all that, your booties are still squishing.

I can laugh about it now, but the number of times I’ve looked like a confused flamingo trying to drain those things…
Not exactly my finest diving moments.

So when I heard about CROSSKIX — shoes designed to work as both boat shoes and dive booties, with drainage holes built directly into the design — I was instantly intrigued.

🌊 Why We Bought Them (Two Pairs, Zero Hesitation)

We bought one pair for me and one for J about a month ago.

I loved the concept:
half sneaker, half dive bootie, all function.

He loved the idea of:
“One pair of shoes from breakfast → boat → dive.”

If you know J, efficiency is the love language.
And honestly? Same.

The idea that he could slip on one pair of shoes for the entire morning — no swapping, no draining, no wrestling with soggy neoprene — was worth testing.

👍 J’s Experience (A Very Enthusiastic Thumbs Up)

J wore his CROSSKIX:

• to breakfast

• down the dock

• onto the boat

• and straight into the dive

He surfaced with a big grin and said:

“These are staying.”

He loved:

• the easy fit

• the comfort

• the fast drainage

• the zero-transition from boat shoe → dive shoe

• skipping the wet bootie shuffle afterward

It was the first dive footwear he didn’t immediately want to change out of.

😄 The Not-So-Perfect (But Still Funny) Part

My CROSSKIX?
They didn’t fit inside my fin pockets at all.

Not even close.

J’s fit… sort of, after removing the laces.
Thankfully, removing the strings didn’t affect how the shoes performed underwater.

But mine?
My fins said: “Absolutely not.”

It’s not a CROSSKIX issue — just a fin-pocket sizing mismatch — but still very on-brand for me.
If there’s a piece of gear that almost works perfectly, I’ll find the “almost.”

💙 Where CROSSKIX Truly Shined

The real win wasn’t about me — it was J.

Watching him walk to the boat comfortably, slip into his fins without wrestling neoprene, and step back onboard without doing the awkward drain routine…

Pure victory.

He was excited about them — and not much excites him when it comes to dive clothing.
He’s a minimalist.
A “function first” diver.

And CROSSKIX checked all his boxes.

✨ Final Thoughts

CROSSKIX aren’t a “nice-to-have.”
They’re a problem-solver, especially for divers who:

• hate soggy neoprene booties

• want fewer gear changes

• want one shoe for deck + dive

• appreciate fast drainage

• want a comfortable, lightweight alternative to stiff booties

For J, they’re permanently in the rotation.

For me… they’re staying in the boat bag even if they don’t fit inside my fins.
They’re comfortable, lightweight, fast-draining, and the idea of never doing the bootie-drain flamingo dance again?

That alone earns them a spot in my dive gear lineup.