FORGET IT!!

only to consider if you are going to be kiting over coral.

Dextrous,
One of my hiking friends uses these for some water based stuff (kayaking etc), she swears by them.
As for kiting, the straps on the ones shown look they would be directly under the board strap, doesn't look like it would be too comfy.
When learning I did a session with some lightweight shoe/bootie things that looked similar (sans strap & toe pockets). Only trouble was, every bit of sand/shell on the beach seemed to find it's way in and stay there!
No fun getting your feet cut while doing the walk of shame. Also no fun getting your feet rubbed raw by sand in the booties while kiting.
Hope this helps....

My big toe looks way bigger than that shoe could accommodate.
Nice idea for balance. It wouldnt be warm in cold weather. Its way better keeping the toes together for warmth.

As the others have said, stop thinking and start doing. It's a natural thing when you have a new obsession to think about it all the time, and visualisation certainly helps, but newbies are constantly coming up with "great" ideas that relate to nothing in particular.

Booties are not a bad idea, especially if you have to deal with rocks or shells or coral. Ordinary surfing booties are fine. Just go to a surf shop and get some. Make sure they fit properly. A little too small is better than too big.

Mid-ankle ones are best. High ankle ones take ages to dry and low ankle ones let in too much sand and shell grit walking across the beach or in the shore break. There is nothing more painful then getting a piece of shell stuck between your toes.

Avoid booties with a completely separate big toe. They split around the seams. You want a round toe bootie with a big toe divider on the inside to help stabilise the bootie on your foot.

Forget about the 5-fingers. They are expensive and I have read that they are crap if they don't fit properly. As far as I know you can only really order them on the net. Just thinking about it, your toes move independently inside a normal bootie so the logic behind the 5-fingers design is a bit dodgey.

Booties do improve grip a lot and will save your feet from cuts. I never use my strapped surfboard with bare feet. I want all the grip I can get. More importantly, as a beginner you will end up on some rocks and you will be glad to have booties as you try to save yourself and your gear. Having said that, in summer it's lovely to ride around barefoot and have less stuff to pack when going to the beach.

can ya get pink ones?

i ride in a pair of o'neill booties all the time. Here's a pic.




Most of the beaches I ride have a ton of shells / shark rocks etc (hell on kite canopies) but hey, you do what you can with what you got.
I loosen up my bindings a touch and find that the big toe split helps get into the binding.

Note: these are rubbish with the Cab Sync bindings, those things are too tight for my foot without the booties!