The 9 Best Boat Shoes for Conquering Land and Sea
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Boat shoes are the perfect sockless casual slip-on. No other footwear can transition as seamlessly from a boat ride to a restaurant to lazing around on a porch as these stylish yet casual must-haves. They can also do the job of indoor/outdoor house slippers.
For those who already have a pair in their rotation, there's probably still more to learn about the history, the construction differences, and the range of comfort with boat shoes—from thin-soled options that let you feel the deck of a sailboat to more cushioned styles you can walk in for hours.
I've tried them all and am here to report back which ones are the right fit for various purposes. Our best overall pick for a great boat shoe is the Sebago Docksides Portland Crazy Horse. Its simple construction and uniquely durable leather makes this a long-lasting classic that'll work well on or off the water.
What Makes Boat Shoes Special (and Uniquely American)?
Paul Sperry invented boat shoes in the 1930s after falling overboard on his sailboat because of slippery soles. At the time, boat shoes were made of canvas with either crepe soles or rope soles—the former slippery when wet and the latter slippery when dry.
Sperry, a tinkerer, went to work in his home workshop in Connecticut on making a non-slip sole what would keep him "Top-Side." Inspired by his dog’s paws as he ran easily over snow and ice in his back yard, Sperry used a blade to cut lines in a rubber sole, and by applying pressure from different directions he landed on a zigzag pattern—now known as "siping"—which is key to the boat shoe’s nonslip factor.
His original models were canvas, but he soon improved upon them by using a leather upper of a moccasin style. “The moccasin is the original athletic shoe,” says Kyle Rancourt, of Maine shoemaker Rancourt & Company. “Sperry just combined the need for a non-slip sole with a comfy moccasin.”
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A big order from Abercrombie & Fitch catapulted Sperry’s invention to nationwide notoriety, and they became the official shoe of the U.S. Navy during World War II. Even John F. Kennedy wore them while he was running his PT-109 missions in the South Pacific.
But why do we associate them with Maine if their inventor was from Connecticut? “Maine was the largest shoemaking area in the country in the 20th century,” explains Rancourt, “The peak was the 1950s, with dozens of shoe factories in Maine, like Bass, Dexter, and Quoddy—a rich shoemaking heritage combined with coastal culture and lifestyle.”
What to Look For in Boat Shoes
Get the sole that’s right for you. The traditional boat shoe sole is a white non-marking sole with siping—tiny cuts that provide traction while you’re on the wet deck of a boat. Camp Mocs are similar to boat shoes, but have a brown, pebbled sole. While most of these are still non-marking, they won’t provide the same traction on wet surfaces. That said, they can be slightly better at traction on dry surfaces. The outlier is a hybrid boat shoe like the Timberland below, that has lug soles which make it suitable for hiking.
Leather, suede, or canvas? That depends. The original Top-Siders were made of canvas, and later upgraded to leather. Canvas has the advantage of being less expensive, and a synthetic canvas can hold up better to being soaked in water without drying out. Leather, especially a good Horween, will be far superior in comfort, and because of the high wax content they still hold up well if they get wet. Suede boat shoes are definitely better for those who are wearing them more for style than nautical function.
How much cushion do you need? Foot support is not a strong suit for boat shoes. If you’re spending hours on a sailboat, you really want to feel the boat deck under your feet, so the thin soles and limited (or non-existent) padding makes sense. But, if you want to walk in them for long periods of time, something like the Sperry Gold Cup has more ankle cushioning, and the full leather linings of the Quoddy boat shoes also provide more cushion.
Mass-produced versus hand-made? This will likely come down to budget, but if you want a pair of fine handmade boat shoes made in Maine, the cost will be significantly higher. The difference between sliding your feet into a made-in-Maine boat shoe and a mass-produced version is significant—and the price reflects that.
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Why You Should Trust Me
I've been covering gear and style from a home base in Los Angeles and now Charleston since 2006, for outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Maxim, Gear Patrol, Fatherly, and Men’s Journal. Whether it’s testing out gear, bags, clothing, and accessories on my own adventures, or profiling designers and craftspeople who make it, it’s been one continuous process of discovery, and an ongoing search for the essentials that bring joy, serve a purpose, and add value to our experiences.
Ever since I moved to the Southern capital of boat shoes, Charleston, SC, they have become part of my daily routine for nine months out of the year. In a land of warm weather, water, and boats, these slip-on staples are as much workwear as fashion. Over the past eight years, I've owned many pairs, worn most of them ragged, and have developed some strong opinions on the subject.
These are the best boat shoes you can buy today. From those that you can own for a lifetime and re-sole over and over, to dressier models you can easily wear to dinner with a sport coat, to more active options that you can truly batter on the open seas.
The Best Boat Shoes of 2023
Stinson Carter
Sebago makes a lot of classic boat shoes, but what sets the Portland Crazy Horse apart is the leather that ages uniquely and responds to water and abuse by simply acquiring a nice patina. Despite the name, it’s not horse leather but full-grain cowhide that got its name from the fact that it was popular in saddle making because of its durability and the way it can acquire a polished surface with time and wear. The Portland name is an homage to the boating culture of Maine.
The interior of the shoe is unlined, with a leather half-insole. Because of the simple construction and uniquely durable leather, this could be your ideal option if you want a classic leather boat shoe but intend to really put these to work on the water.
Stinson Carter
Paul Sperry sold off his shoemaking enterprise early in his career to dedicate himself to his family business, but this boat shoe remains the closest descendant of Sperry’s original. The Gold Cup is an upscale version of Sperry’s Authentic Original boat shoe.
It has a layer of leather between the sole and the upper that dresses it up, making it well suited to wearing with a blazer. Handsewn with lambskin lining and a cushioned heel cup and OrthoLite insole, the shoe provides an extremely soft and pliable leather upper. When combined with its plush insole, there’s no break-in needed on these.
Stinson Carter
Family-owned and founded in Maine in the 1960s, Rancourt & Company does boat shoes right—making them by hand in their own Maine factory. Their flagship boat shoe, the Read, is made of unlined Horween Chromexcel leather. This makes them good for warm weather, and ensures the leather will easily conform to your foot over time.
They have non-slip and non-marking deck soles, rust-resistant nickel-plated eyelets, and a leather half-insole. The Horween leather can last a lifetime if properly cared for, and these can be re-soled as many times as needed.
Stinson Carter
Quoddy is another legacy Maine shoemaker, founded in 1947. Like Rancourt, they’re made by hand at their own factory. Quoddy offers a made-to-order boat shoe, so you can truly customize every visual detail—picking the type of metal for the eyelets, the color of the thread used in the stitching, and the color of the soles and the leather. They have cushioned insoles, full leather lining, and triple eyelets give them a much more secure fit than the usual two-eyelet boat shoe style.
All of these details add up to a shoe that will hug your feet in a soft leather grasp like no boat shoe you’ve ever worn. And because they are able to be infinitely re-soled, they’re well worth the investment for the bespoke customization.
Stinson Carter
Like the original boat shoes, these are made of canvas. Unlike the originals, they have a modern rubber sole more akin to that of a sneaker. The Slack Tide Boat Shoes are ultra-light, ultra-affordable, and ultra-comfortable. There is zero break-in needed; they feel great right out of the box. The sole is cushy enough to wear well on land, but still gives you a very in-tune feel for the deck of a boat. True to the PFG designation, these would be ideal if you plan to do some fishing from a boat, because they are light, waterproof, and will stay on your feet better than a traditional boat shoe.
Stinson Carter
In their stunning suede version, Allen Edmonds’ Force 10 is a style-focused option you may be less inclined to drench with salt water. But they look fantastic, so if you’re thinking of these as a summer style staple more than a sailing accessory, they'll deliver the slip-on ease and comfort of a typical boat shoe with a style that exceeds them.
Inside are full leather insoles and perforated leather linings that give you the comfort of a full lining but with more breathability. They have a two-tone white rubber sole to mimic the look of a leather layer between sole and upper that also makes them look slightly dressier than solid white soles.
Stinson Carter
Camp moccasins are very similar to boat shoes, and visually they can be hard to tell apart at first glance. But the subtle differences are perfect if you want something other than a typical boat shoe. Camp mocs have a one-piece "apron" toe, and they traditionally have pebbled soles instead of siped soles.
These mocs from Oak Street Bootmakers in Chicago are hand-sewn in the U.S. with Horween Chromexcel leather, and their darker pebbled sole can make them slightly more versatile than a white sole in certain settings, as the dark brown blends better with a pair of khakis while still being non-marking. They have a leather half-insole and are unlined to allow for a cooler-wearing shoe that conforms easily to your foot.
Stinson Carter
Atlanta-based Sid Mashburn is one of the finest men’s stores in the country, with a remarkable level of curation and a serious focus on service. They don’t put their name on anything that isn’t great, and these hybrid camp mocs are no exception. They have a suede upper that makes them more fashion-centric than sailboat-ready, but unlike traditional camp mocs they do have a siped white sole like a boat shoe, so they could do well on deck.
The Suede Camp Moccasin's are made in Portugal and are leather lined with a full leather insole. For under $200 they’re a great value, and even come with two nice green Sid Mashburn shoe bags. They are also available in a leather version in lieu of the suede.
Stinson Carter
This Timberland Boat Shoe and hiking boot mashup was created in 1978 by combining the leather upper of their boat shoe with a durable boot lug outsole, and it has since become a core Timberland classic. With the lug sole, the thick padding around the ankle, the leather half-insole and full leather lining, it’s far sturdier than a typical boat shoe. It’s also heavier because of the lug soles, and these clearly aren’t going to give you that feel for the boat deck that a thin white sole will.
But what you get in the tradeoff is the comfort of a boat shoe’s moccasin-style upper with serious traction and stability you could go hiking with. The burgundy version of the shoe features Horween leather uppers, which for $150 shoes is an absolute steal.
