The Seac F1S scuba diving fins were a ScubaLab Best Buy during the 2017 fin test. Learn what our testers liked about these fins in this video review. Read the full 2017 fin test review here.

Lightweight , comfortable and efficient – at an attractive price – the Seac F1S was our Best Buy during the 2017 fin test. We tested the F1S at Alexanders Springs in Central Florida, where test divers rated it in 12 different categories, including efficiency, power, acceleration and comfort.

No small fry, the F1S is 25 inches long in size medium large, with a robust foot pocket and broad, square-tipped blade, so we were surprised to find it weighed just 1 ½ pounds – noticeably less than many similar sized fins. The light weight results from the intricate combination of materials with very different characteristics, with rigid sections in the blade connected by a web of flexible, rubbery elastomer. The design creates a soft, expandable water channel at the tip of the blade, which is flexy at the tip but stiffens progressively toward the toes. In the water the result was good speed without leg fatigue, helped by a nicely shaped foot pocket and a bungee strap with a wide, stable heel pad (and a sweet finger loop that earned an excellent score for doffing the fin). “Long blade gave good return on muscle investment,” wrote one diver, and testers rewarded the fin’s easy effort with one of the high scores for efficiency in the flutter kick and very good scores for power vs. stress and for stability. It was marked good for acceleration, though testers noted that going from zero to 60 with those big blades was like dumping the clutch; better to work up speed gradually and let the blades do their thing.

The Seac F1S was named ScubaLab’s Best Buy in the 2017 fin test.