Reef booties or fins?

I am going to be vacationing on the Big Island of Hawaii for 2 weeks and will be doing quite a bit of snorkeling and free diving. In the past I have not used reef booties or fins but think for this trip I would want to bring one of the two as I have seen them recommended several times in snorkeling reviews for the Big Island. I originally thought they served two different purposes (reef booties for walking, and fins for swimming) but have recently read some reviews from people who recommend booties over fins for snorkeling and vise-versa. I just wanted to get some opinions and recommendations. If I were to go with the fins, I would want something low profile and maneuverable (like swimmers fins). Any advice or recommendations would be much appreciated.

Your terminology is a tad different here. There are reef booties (shoes) that are meant for walking around in on both land and surf. These aren’t meant to slip on fins with but can be used for street wear as well.
There are also neoprene booties that are worn with open heel fins. You can walk around the beach in these types of booties but they’re not exactly meant as street wear to boot (forgive the pun).
The neoprene booties and open heel fins would probably fit the bill for you as long as you don’t plan on doing some trekking after coming out of the water. The fins themselves tend to be a little more expensive than full foot fins but should you ever find yourself snorkeling a tad colder water, you’ll be already set for it.

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