Merrell Men's Waterpro Maipo Water Shoe

I felt these run a little on the large side, even when wearing socks. It was not quite enough to down size the shoe, and after wearing them several times I found the extra room was good for my purposes. I primarily use these when playing and exploring with my son on our local beaches. They tend to be very rocky with loads of barnacles, and these shoes give me solid foot protection and respectable traction. For me these have handled sand as well, quickly draining away with the water and leaving the inside relatively sand free.I have on occasion used them to do some light running (1-2 miles) and they perform okay. I require a shoe with more support than this merrell has, but I could understand someone who may like a minimalist style shoe would like these.

I discovered this shoe in 2008 and have literally worn out two pair since then. this latest version has a couple of improvements which make a great shoe even more comfortable. Living in Fairbanks, Alaska, we have a shortened "summer shoe" season, but this Merrell product is my one and only once we are out of winter boots. I have never worn a more comfortable and supportive shoe. In several ways the technology of micro-fleece has proved to be superior to wool in arctic conditions, and similarly, in my opinion, this Maipo Water Shoe has proved itself superior to a leather moccasin. I'm trying to not be hyperbolic in my praise, but am convinced through several years of experience this is the finest shoe I have ever worn in all of my 60 years.

Love the color orange & blue color! The shoes worked great for hiking Zion Narrows paired with a pair of neoprene socks. They're incredibly lightweight... when I received the box I seemed like it could've been empty! Nice tread pattern that provides great grip on dry ground, and fair performance on wet river rock. Not as great as 5.10s but I never had to worry about slipping on the rock at the bottom of the river. For going in and out of sandy river bottom and rocky bottoms, the shoes stayed surprisingly clean - a worry with the bright color.The lacing system could use some improvement though. It can be difficult to get a good if you have a low volume foot. The free-floating orange webbing that half the laces hook through aren't sewn down to the shoe. It's a continuous strap that runs the entire length of the shoe, so when you pull on the laces, the strap ends up giving way rather than holding.That said, these are great water shoes in that they shed water easily.The sides look solid, but it's a got really like a really thick mesh. Within seconds of exiting the river, the shoes were completely drained. If hiking with some technical (not wool!) socks, they would be completely dry on a sunny day rather quickly!

Jan 1, 2004 I found a pair of Merrell's I liked in California but they were $200 + so 2 years later I found the same pair in Indiana for $70 (closing down sale). I've worn them consistently since then and the mesh is finally starting to degrade a bit around the front top area. These shoes made treks through the Sierra Nevada's, the Grand Canyon, Algonquin Park, Yosemite Park, the Mohave Desert, etc... so they weren't babied. Just figured I'd buy another pair of the Waterpros to replace my first pair once they've finally completed their lifespan. Merrell shoes don't need to have wider sizes because they fit great even if your feet are wide like mine. I can't really say that about any other brand of shoes that I've ever owned.

These shoes run large for the size. I wear a 10.5 or 11 in most shoes of this type. However, I exchanged the 11's that I initially ordered for 10's and they are perfect. By the way, the return service was exceptional. I initiated the return on-line and then sent the original shoes back and at the same time the replacement shoes were being shipped to me. I got them two days later. Thank you for such great service. I would say these are 1/2 to one full size on the large side. I have yet to wear these outdoors, but from what little I have worn them in the house, I think they are going to be great.

I'm not really sure how to feel about these shoes. I'd bought these to use as my sole footwear on a canoe trip through the BWCAW, which involves numerous canoe portages per leg of the trip, which require you to unload your canoe while standing in the water, carry everything a few hundred yards to more than a mile on a trail, then reload at the other end. I'd really hoped that these would be the "holy grail" for this kind of use- waterproof (with good drainage) and good support and grip for hiking with a heavy load. In reality, these shredded my feet within a couple hours of use, and I got to spend most of the trip with my feet full of bandaids.While dry, these are pretty comfortable, and fit, support, and grip like other Merrell shoes (I own a couple pairs of various models). The support is great, they are very solid, and have excellent grip. Once they've gotten wet, and more importantly, once your skin has been wet, they really started to abrade my feet at a couple contact points. I really wanted to like them, but man, having sore feet your entire trip is pretty terrible.The design is pretty neat, and water drains out instantly. I still use these on occasion for boating, and they're pretty good, because I'm not wearing them for actual walking. Maybe if I tried them with a good sock liner, they'd be a lot better. If I'd had the opportunity to try them for a few hours before heading out into the woods, I don't think I'd have taken them, but I don't think Amazon is interested in taking back shoes that have been used in the muddy bottom of a river.