Astral  Loyak Water Shoes - Men's

This is an incredible travel shoe. Lightweight, compact, easy to pack - awesome. I even put an orthotic in them if I’m just walking around town. As a water shoe also great, BUT they are not good in any environment with sand. The material of the tongue collects sand and the heal cup, which is nice and padded (great for comfort!) BUT the heel material is not fully stitched to the heel cup, so sand gets heavy deposited in this space. It’s impossible to rinse out and I’m left with crunchy sand embedded behind my heel, which is not comfortable to say the least. It’s so bad, I’m wondering if that non-stitching is a manufacturing defect.

I am on my fourth pair! I wear them almost every day. This past weekend wore them kayaking and on a 10 mile hike that was rated as strenuous. There were multiple water crossings on the hike and I was very glad I had shoes that drained the water within seconds Outstanding shoes for any occasion.

I've worn these shoes both as a paddling shoe and also as a spring/summer travel shoe. They are lightweight and flexible and do not take up too much room in my kayak, or in my backpack. The grip is incredible on wet rocks.

I was really hoping to absolutely love these. I feel like they are great shoes, but the sizing is big and the toe box isnt that wide for shoes that advertise have room for toes to spread. I wear a 9 in everything but these I would definitely want an 8.5 BUT they dont make half sizes. I would try the 8 but I'd be worried the toe box would be smaller. These are wide enough that it doesnt squeeze my toes together but they dont have enough room for my toes to spread. I'm going to keep them and break them in. Maybe try to shrink them in the sun and hope I can get a good fit out of them. I was really hoping for something I loved right off the bat.

Was looking for a “swim shoe” that would fit the criteria to keep on your feet during slides on a recent trip to Disney. After finding Astral, I thought these shoes looked great enough to wear in the parks with a risk of rain constant in Orlando. The texture of the insole, the grip of the sole, the comfort and breathability of the fabric all while putting in a half marathon in a day was amazing. Looking forward to many steps in these knowing the risk of wet feet for the rest of the trip will be limited thanks to how easy they are to dry overnight. Will highly recommend to anyone I know wanting a great looking casual shoe with a ton of functionality.

I've worn a pair of these WW kayaking for three years. The soles have finally cracked all the way through in the heel area. Otherwise, they are still in great shape. I hose these shoes out after every outing to get the sand, grit, mud out of them. I love them and I'm buying another pair ASAP. As a point of reference, I only wear these shoes when kayaking and carrying the boat to and from the water over short distances. After I load my kayak on my vehicle, the shoes come off. If I have to hump the boat any distance, I wear other shoes and then stuff those "hiking" shoes into the kayak in dry bags while I'm kayaking. These Astral Loyak shoes have great grip on slippery rocks. They are very low volume and work extreamly well in my kayaks (Jackson Karma RG and Jackson Nirvana). I feel as though my feet are in contact with my uni-shock bulkhead as opposed to my feet being in shoes which are then in contact with my foot rest/bulkhead. I'm not that great of a kayaker and anything I can do to feel more connected to the boat serves me well. The Loyaks help me feel more connected to my boat. I've also done a ton of sailing in my life and I think these would be terrific sailing shoes too. Even though they are super comfortable and look great, I would not get them to walk around in a lot as there isn't too much to the shoe structure. I've always worn either light weight smart wool socks or the socks combined with .5mm neoprene socks in the winter months (Western North Carolina winter months). I don't write reviews, but I was shopping REI to to buy another pair of Loyaks specifically and decided to write the review on these shoes. I wear 10.5 street shoes; my Loyaks are size 11 and fit well.

For my lifestyle, these babies are all I need. I'm a fan of minimalist footwear and these feel pretty close to barefoot. The soles are super grippy and durable so far (I go pretty hard on my shoes), they dry super quick. I mostly wear them barefoot but they're also great w/ socks on colder days. Another thing is that they don't stink! I don't know how they do it, but these shoes don't get the typical foot funk that you tend to get when you go sock-less. In a given day I can ride my mountain bike, run errands, stomp around our creek, go for a walk in the neighborhood, and then grab some dinner in town...and never have to change shoes. I'm stoked on these :)

Mixed feelings, these could be perfect but they miss on some key stuff. I bought these to add a more robust option to my kayak setup. I hike in some times and wanted to have an option that wasn't booties. Frankly, they should be easier to put on, the loop in the back to help pull them on is too small, the tongue should have some stretch built in, and there should be a velcro closure. They are grippy, they do have enough room in them for drysuit sock, and they do drain/dry quickly. Problem is, when I am on a river trip I am getting in and out of my dry gear all the time, and taking these off and putting them back on multiple time a day is really really bad.

I bought these to take on a trip to the Greek isles. I wanted a pair of water shoes for some beaches that might be rocky under water, that could also look like regular shoes in case I wanted to go straight from the beach to town, and that would be lightweight and easily packable. The Loyak’s are exactly those shoes. These shoes look really good even if your primary purpose isn’t to get a water shoe. But I was able to swim and snorkel the Aegean with these, and then just throw a shirt on and go into shops and restaurants. A bonus of the light gray color shoes is the white soles, which are great for being on a boat deck.

Perfection from the start. My All-Time favorite! Walking in these shoes make you feel connected with the ground. I traveled with these shoes all throughout Europe. And has been my day to day work shoes as well. The natural foot shape design and the breathable topper, simply amazing. Now I do wish the insole was not made out of plastic, but instead a more breathable material or moisture wicking material. That probably would help when people decided to wear these without socks. Great job Astral. I will continue to wear these Loyaks for years to come. Please don't change any of the elements that made these shoes phenomenal!