The 6 Best Flip

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These simple-looking sandals are packed with features for keeping your arches—and your sense of style—intact.

After a long summer day in your daily trainers, there’s no feeling more satisfying than slipping into shoes that let your feet stretch and breathe. For some people, that shoe is a slipper or a sandal, preferably one that’s well-designed to support and preserve the natural shape of your feet—after all, you don’t want sore feet when you’re ready to hit the treadmill again. Others, however, may prefer something they can kick off with a bit more ease, perhaps right before settling into a hammock or hot tub. The perfect compromise? Flip-flops with arch support.

Flip-flops don’t often come to mind when we think of foot health, especially when it comes to arch support. The shoe’s name alone elicits imagery of flat, flimsy strips of foam purchased hastily at a beachfront bodega. As runners, many of us are tuned in to shoe ergonomics well enough to see shoes like those and look the other way. Our feet have surely thanked us for it—but what if we told you that there are flip-flops out there that not only provide support for your arches, but are also carefully designed to be as lightweight and comfortable as possible?

We’ve done the research on this unicorn footwear—read on to see which models we think perform the best.

Quality flip-flop soles are made with a combination of synthetic materials, such as rubber and EVA foam, and natural materials like leather and cork. Rubber and foam make your flip-flops more water-resistant and aid with comfort on your first wear, whereas natural materials add an aesthetic touch that ages beautifully and forms to your foot over time. We’ve also found cork and leather flip-flops to last longer, generally, than rubber or foam options.

We all wear our flip-flops in different places—by the pool, at a campsite, around the house, or in a public shower (which isn’t a bad idea, by the way). Someone even ran the Baltimore Marathon in a pair. We aren’t recommending anyone try that last one, but it goes to show that flip-flops have quite the range of applications.

Some of our recommendations maximize traction and waterproofing for walking in mud and sand; others are all about comfort and don’t have much tread.

Even when wearing flip-flops with improved arch support, it’s crucial to acknowledge that flip-flops aren’t for everyone. Because most flip-flops are only secured to your foot around your toes (and only two of them, at that), your foot is constantly scooping into them to keep them on your feet as you walk. That additional strain on your feet can add up, especially if you have any pre-existing issues with foot pain like plantar fasciitis. If this is a concern of yours, look for straps that extend farther back on the foot, or perhaps give these summer sandals a peek.

Several of the picks on this list are personal favorites that some of our Runner’s World editors keep in their arsenals at home. For those we haven’t directly tested, we pooled together experience from friends, family, and fellow reviewers online to make sure every pick had a solid balance of comfort, durability, water resistance, and value.

Olukai’s flagship flip-flops with arch support tick all the boxes of high quality while remaining sleek and reasonably priced. The ultra-soft EVA insole fills every gap between itself and your foot, and you hardly need to wear it in before the padding molds to the underside of your feet.

Pair that comfort with a grippy rubber outsole, and you have a shoe that performs well wherever you take it.

Buy Men’s Buy Women’s

Sometimes, a no-frills design supports a shoe’s performance leagues more than it hurts it. The Reflip is a perfect example, offering a simple but effective flip-flop with arch support that builds as your feet sink in over time.

It provides the least support overall out of all our selections, likely due to cost-saving efforts, but the contoured sole still provides a significantly more secure and supportive fit than flat foam. The sole is also nice and wide for some traction in lieu of any grippier materials.

Buy Men’s Buy Women’s

As polarizing as their appearance can be, it’s hard to deny that the original Crocs are seriously comfortable, notably lauded by healthcare workers across the country for their all-day support. Now, imagine that super-plush sole on the bottom of a flip-flop.

The proprietary resin Crocs uses to give its classic clogs their legendary cushioning also makes up these flip-flops in their entirety, including the foot straps, which extend up from the peak of the arch to provide even more support. Did we mention you can customize these with Jibbitz, too?

Buy Unisex

If you’ve never experienced the feeling of wearing into a Birkenstocks cork sole, let us implore you to try it out. While it’ll feel a bit stiff at first, your feet will soon mold the soles of these flip-flops to accommodate your arches near-perfectly.

A bonus: The top strap is adjustable, which will help you dial your fit even more precisely.

Buy Unisex

Ideal for high arches, the Oolala is one of a small group of flip-flops with arch support that comes with a recommendation from the American Podiatric Medical Association for its positive effects on your foot health.

The insole angles your feet into the perfect position to take strain off your knees and lower back, which can feel especially nice after a long day of moving around. The upper straps also hug your feet quite well, which can help remedy any problematic forefoot-scooping tendencies.

Buy Women’s

Oras are supremely comfortable flip-flops with arch support that perfectly remedies the stresses your feet undergo on a hard run. Owing to Hoka’s notoriety as a comfort-first shoe company, these flip-flops give you the beloved bounce of the brand’s comfiest trainers while giving the dogs a chance to breathe.

The sole is also as thick as a running shoe, lending to a well-structured footbed that has plenty of room to compress.

Buy Men’s Buy Women’s

Adam Schram is an Assistant Editor of Commerce at Runner's World, though you might see his byline on Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing cocktails, watching Star Wars, or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below.

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