From Festival to Canyon: Can the Teva Hydratrek Water Sandals Really Do It All?

The Teva Hydratrek Water Sandals promises go-anywhere performance. Explorer Tom threw mud, rock, canyons, and a festival at these sandals. They passed with only one exception – and frankly that one’s on Tom.

After about five years of solid use and probably a bit less user care than Teva would recommend, the sole on my trusted Teva Original Universal Sandals finally gave out. I needed a new pair, and fortunately, Teva had just released the new Teva Hydratrek Water Sandals. A bit chunkier, a bit pricier, and if the Teva website is to be believed, possibly a bit more innovative.

The new Teva Hydratrek Water Sandals

Why am I the right person to do this review?

My old Teva’s lived a hard life. They spent more time in the sun than any reputable skin doctor would recommend, hiked, canyoned, been strapped to the side of my hiking pack for weeks on end, and stuffed in bikepacking bags over rough terrain.

I’ve been through various phases with different pairs of slides and Birkenstocks. I even tried toughing out a summer purely with bare feet – spoiler alert: it didn’t last long! – but I kept coming back to my trusted Tevas.

The point of all this history is to explain that I’ve tried my share of slip-on, waterproof footwear options, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s just no comparison to the comfort and adaptability that Tevas offer. I certainly wouldn’t go for a hike or a canyon in any of the others I’ve previously tried.

Are the Teva Hydratrek Water Sandals as good as the Teva Original Universals, or are they more akin to Birks? I’ve never had a more appropriate assignment.

Quick Specifications

Weight: 350g per sandal
Midsole: Recycled EVA
Size: 7-14 US (Men’s), 5-11 US (Women’s)
Colours: Black, caviar/larkspur, desert palm, or hydro camo crown blue (Men’s), Black, tigerlily, lunar rock, archive topo striking purple (Women’s)

Design

At first glance, these look like a slightly chunky but fairly standard pair of sandals. The first hint that they’re designed for use in off-road conditions is the subtle topographic etching in the side of the sole.

Then comes the big reveal – the sole itself. This thing wouldn’t look out of place on a $400 trail runner. It’s designed to perform on wet surfaces, with the design inspired by tree frog traction – yep, you read that right.

These aren’t your standard adventure sandals

I never thought I’d know what it feels like to be a tree frog, and given these shoes didn’t allow me to hang out and ‘ribbit’ on a vertical tree, maybe I still don’t, but I definitely felt closer to that feeling than I have before. That is to say, these things grip.

The rubber underfoot is made using a textured, grippy topsole, recycled EVA midsole, and an outsole that contains recycled Spider Rubber, using uniquely designed channels to provide grip on wet surfaces.

The strap around the heel has additional padding made from recycled polyester on the inside, helping with the comfort and removing the possibility of chafing. I do find myself having to pull it back into place as it folds inwards when I put my foot in.

That’s it there at the back on the heel

This isn’t uncomfortable and I’ve forgotten to unfold this without it having a negative impact on comfort, however I do wonder if this could be attached to the strap in some way.

Performance

I feel like I’ve really tested the limits of the activities you can do in a pair of sandals. I’ve hiked, river walked, trail run, canyoned, and been to two festivals in them. What else is there to do in a pair of Teva Hydratek Water Sandals?

Across all these activities, I found only one flaw: leeches. It may not come as a surprise to most of you, but this is not an effective anti-leech sandal. I know, I know, it’s a sandal, what was I thinking to expect anything else?

To be fair, I wasn’t expecting them to be leech-proof; I just didn’t think there’d be leeches on the muddy hike we walked in a rainforest (yes, I’m an idiot). I’m adding this to the review, though – as I rub my itchy feet together under the table – as it’ll hopefully discourage others from being as silly as me.

Ok, so the sandals aren’t great in leech country, so what are they good for?

Sandals so comfy, even the leeches couldn’t ruin my vibe

Usability

The Teva Hydratek Water Sandals were comfy out of the box. Their first outing was the Grand Canyon Hike in the Blue Mountains, a 7km walk with plenty of elevation and puddles. I did the canyoning version, which included an abseil and a kilometre or so of walking through water on slippery rocks and logs.

These are easily the grippiest footwear I’ve used in a canyon. The inspiration Teva drew from frogs (and apparently also spiders) to create the grippy sole pattern clearly works, and gave me plenty of confidence negotiating the wet surfaces.

They were equally as comfortable and stable on the rocky walk in and the steep staircase out. I ended up running the last few kilometres on the trail on my first outing in the shoes, and had absolutely no issues with chafing despite them being wet. Impressive.

No frogs were harmed in the making of this sole

Durability

So far so good. They’ve seen plenty of use in the time I’ve had them and there’s not a mark on them. There’s no obvious point of weakness so I’ll be surprised if they break, but also interested to see how they go over plenty more adventures.

If anything changes, I’ll jump back on here and let you know in the comments.

Comfort

This is where Tevas have always impressed me. The brand continuously makes sandals that are effortlessly comfortable. I’ve never had a blister in Tevas, and I’ve done my share of wet and dry walking.

The only downside to sandals is that rocks can get stuck between your feet and the sole, but that’s just a fact of sandals. The Hydratrek Water Sandal does seem much better at stopping this than the Original Universal model.

The thicker sole and slightly built-up lip not only kept grime out, they also really helped protect my toes on a few rocks that would’ve added some nice bruises to my toes in other sandals. I’ve also kicked a few bricks in the backyard that would’ve probably resulted in a broken toe in a regular pair of sandals. Writing it down really makes me think that I should move those bricks.

Also great during winter adventures if you chuck a pair of socks on underneath

Sustainability

Reading the details and features section of this sandal on the Teva website, one word comes up more than any other: recycled. There’s a dot point at the bottom purely dedicated to sustainability, which is pretty rare to see. It reads:

‘Sustainability Initiative(s): Regrind midsole, Regrind outsole, Webbing made from recycled plastic using traceable, verifiable REPREVE® polyester yarn by Unifi®, Vegan’.

Using recycled materials is great, but what else is Teva doing? I actually had a hard time finding sustainability info about the brand as a whole on the Australian website, but the global website discusses it in more detail.

Since 2020, the brand has transitioned its straps to be made from 100% recycled materials. This has reportedly stopped more than 40 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfill. Teva’s also reducing the amount of water being used in the production process thanks to packaging improvements, creating more vegan products (including these sandals), and working to reduce waste from factories.

I’m impressed to read that Teva has been looking into making its production line more sustainable since 2017, and sustainability is clearly an important issue to the company.

There isn’t much more to this sandal that could be recycled

Price

These sandals aren’t cheap. At $160, the price is akin to what you’d pay for a basic hiking boot or trail runner. But Teva already makes multiple cheaper options – for $90 you can jump into a pair of the Hurricanes, or for $120, a pair of the Original sandals.

The Teva Hydratrek Water Sandals are designed to be a step above both of these options in terms of comfort and grip, and I can definitely notice that when I take them out of the city and onto varied terrain.

Whether or not you’re happy to pay the price is up to you, but if you’re planning on spending time in a slippery environment in sandals, I’d say the extra cost will quickly become worth it.

No slipping today folks

Final Thoughts

These sandals are specifically designed to maximise grip in wet environments, and I’ve been nothing but impressed on this front. They perform well in every other way as well and are impressively comfortable.

I definitely recommend the Teva Hydratek Water Sandals, but whether they’re worth the additional money over other Teva sandals depends on whether you’re exploring in slippery or wet environments.

Seems like it’s a popular opinion too: A Love Letter To My Teva Sandals

Festival-ready, canyon-tested, backyard-brick-approved – what more do you need?

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