I am a whitewater paddler and needed a shoe that would be comfortable and stay on feet in water in rough terrain. These were my first pair of Chaco's and it did take me some time to get the straps adjusted properly. The first thing I noticed was that after standing in them for about 20 minutes my arches were in a lot of pain. I talked to a friend who has a pair of Chaco's and asked her if there was a break in period. She said no, but when we compared sandals it became obvious that my feet were over the sole on both sides while hers were not. She said she had narrow feet and that Chaco;s run narrow and that I probably needed a wide width. Unfortunately they do not offer this shoe in wide so I need to return them. The other thing I noticed is that the heel strap was always loose no matter what I did because it is a fixed length, I could always get a finger underneath it. And lastly,the rubber sole seemed really hard, i was hoping for a little bit of cushiness. Bottom line is that these were painful and need to be returned, it's too bad because I really wanted to like these.