When you’re packing for an extended trip and you’re committed to the carry-on, one-bag travel lifestyle (whether that’s a backpack or rolling suitcase), I’d argue that shoes are hands down the toughest clothing item to select. Since they take up so much space, you can typically only bring one or two pairs, so it’s obvious you want something versatile and multifunctional.
If you’ve ever searched online specifically for “travel shoes” or tried to track down the legendary “one shoe to rule them all,” you’ve probably stumbled across the Spanish brand Tropicfeel and their footwear lineup. And if you actually visited their website, chances are your social media feeds were immediately flooded with their ads – they’re marketing powerhouses, that’s for sure.
So, are you considering buying a pair of Tropicfeel shoes? In this article, I’ll share my personal experiences with the brand and try to answer the big question: are these truly high-quality, travel-specific shoes, or is it all just smoke and mirrors backed by slick marketing campaigns?
My Tropicfeel Journey: 5 Shoes, 6 Continents, 4+ Years
I bought my first Tropicfeel shoes, a gray Canyon model, back in summer 2021. Since then, I’ve used five different Tropicfeel shoes for various lengths of time, and Andrea has three different pairs as well, so we’ve tested these shoes on a pretty large sample size across six continents in diverse environments and conditions.
The Honeymoon Phase: Tropicfeel Canyon First Impressions
When my first pair arrived, I eagerly put them to the test and was thoroughly impressed: the now-discontinued Canyon fit perfectly and proved incredibly comfortable while being remarkably lightweight. Our first trip together was to Georgia, where they performed admirably on the streets of Tbilisi and Batumi, as well as during our hike to Kazbegi – and they were the only shoes I brought along.
The Canyon’s next deployment was a short Balkan road trip through Bosnia and Croatia (again as my sole footwear), followed by a few days in Serbia in November. By the time I returned, I was convinced enough by the brand’s performance to pre-order their newly announced Geyser Great waterproof model as one of the shoes I’d take on my 2022 South American adventure with Peter. They promised delivery by June 2022, which seemed like comfortable timing since we were departing for Colombia in late August.
When choosing travel shoes for varied climates, consider the season at your destination. A shoe designed for tropical weather won’t perform well in colder conditions without proper sock layering.
As colder weather arrived, the Canyon went into storage. It was specifically designed for warm climates – essentially the predecessor to the current AT series (All-Terrain, All-Terrain 2, AT Lite) – engineered with drainage holes in the sole to let water flow out easily. The shoes supposedly dry very quickly too, though I’d add that while they do dry somewhat faster than thicker canvas or cushioned shoes, you need ideal conditions (air circulation, sunshine). Don’t expect miracles in a humid jungle environment.
The Geyser Great Disappointment: Where Things Started Going Wrong
Finally, the long-awaited South American adventure arrived, but the pre-ordered Geyser Great was nowhere to be found. Tropicfeel repeatedly promised new delivery dates and offered various explanations for the delays (like claiming my order wasn’t in the first batch – though I ordered on launch day, so I’m not sure how anyone could have been ahead of me). In the end, since the waterproof shoes promised for June hadn’t arrived by late August, I headed to Colombia and Peru with the Canyon once again.
The shoes actually served me well there too – comfortable on tropical beaches and at 5,000 meters (16,400 ft) on Rainbow Mountain (though I wore thick wool socks there). They essentially survived this trip as my only shoes, though it would be their last journey. Somewhere during our second week in Peru, I noticed that the material had given up on both shoes at the front sides where the upper naturally creases during walking. Four holes total had formed across both shoes and were steadily growing larger.
After returning home, since the shoes were just over a year old and EU regulations provide a two-year warranty, I contacted Tropicfeel about the defect. They dismissed it as wear and tear from use, refusing to replace the shoes but offering a 20% discount coupon. I ultimately accepted their argument, thinking that the gray Canyon had indeed been my sole shoe to many places and had endured pretty harsh use. So I used the coupon and ordered an identical new pair – though I should mention that even with the coupon, it was only €2.8 (~$3.2 USD) cheaper than the first pair.
Always document shoe defects with photos immediately when you notice them. This helps with warranty claims and gives you evidence of when the damage first appeared.
Meanwhile, in September while I was traveling, both Geyser Greats finally arrived (one was mine, the other Andrea’s). We were much less satisfied with these from the start. Andrea’s shoes, despite waterproofing being their main feature, seemed to leak – though strangely, we couldn’t really reproduce the issue under a tap, so she ultimately didn’t complain to Tropicfeel.
While these shoes were comfortable, and although Tropicfeel hadn’t managed to solve the inherent problem that waterproof shoes can’t really breathe, they performed reasonably well. I only took them on a much simpler trip: a short excursion to Slovenia in late October/early November. Beyond that, I used them occasionally as transitional footwear at home during fall and early spring before storing them away (little did I know what surprise will await me when I take them out again).
The Sunset Success Story (Until It Wasn’t)
In summer 2023, I decided that while one-shoe travel with a Tropicfeel Canyon was technically feasible (for warm destinations, of course), it would be more practical to find a smaller, easily packable second shoe that could double as water shoes. Since I was generally satisfied with the brand (despite the non-replaced damaged shoes), I ordered a Sunset and convinced Andrea to get a pair too.
This became my absolute favorite item. For city use (in warm climates!) and beaches, I can’t imagine anything better. It’s small and foldable thanks to the flexible heel, incredibly lightweight, yet super comfortable. Since then, it’s accompanied me on every trip as a second shoe, I’ve used it multiple times as water shoes where ocean conditions required them, and I wear them quite often on regular summer days too. Bonus points: when I broke my ankle, these were pretty much the only shoes I could wear comfortably with my ankle brace, thanks to the very flexible, thick sock-like heel construction.
The Breaking Point: Manufacturing Defects and Poor Customer Service
My relationship with Tropicfeel remained unclouded until fall 2023. In fact, I was so enamored that I joined their loyalty program called Nation, actively completing various tasks and collecting points. However, when I took the barely-used Geyser Great out of storage in early October, I was shocked to find that the glue between the upper and sole had completely separated at the toe. It clearly seemed like a manufacturing defect (especially since both shoes showed the same issue in roughly the same way, and Andrea’s shoes displayed similar problems, though less severe), so I wrote to Tropicfeel support.
What followed was a lengthy email exchange – lengthy mainly because they responded very slowly (when they responded at all). Predictably, they didn’t acknowledge it as a manufacturing defect and offered the usual 20% coupon for a new shoe purchase. I didn’t want to accept this; I specifically requested a complete replacement, but they stubbornly refused. When I visited Trustpilot to share my experience in a review, I discovered I was far from the only customer “in the same shoes” (ha!). Numerous Geyser Great owners described eerily similar problems.
After my review, Tropicfeel actually contacted me again via email, but only to re-offer the previous coupon instead of replacing the shoes. Since the poor quality and manufacturing defect were so obvious, I decided to pursue the matter and contacted EU consumer protection about the problem. This didn’t get me far either, as Tropicfeel didn’t respond to their inquiry, so the next step would have been legal action, which I obviously wasn’t keen on pursuing.
Research the warranty policies and customer service reputation of shoe brands before investing in expensive travel footwear. Check recent reviews on multiple platforms, not just the company website.
So at this point, I was hugely disappointed in my previously beloved brand – and it was clear I wasn’t alone, as the company’s Trustpilot average had slowly dropped from around 4.5 to 3.8. Besides customers complaining about poor quality, many highlighted customer service as a negative (they didn’t help me much either, as you can see), and many complained about shipping and lost packages. I personally never had issues with this, except of course for the Geyser’s multi-month delay.
The Geyser Great model was actually discontinued quite quickly – surely not because of manufacturing defects… – and its place in the lineup has been taken by the AT HDry® model.
Anyway, I resolved never to buy Tropicfeel shoes again, because despite being very comfortable and practical, their quality is nowhere near what they’re priced at, plus they refuse to take responsibility for obvious design/manufacturing defects. My resolution lasted exactly one year, when there was such a good sale on the Sunset (€69 (~$79 USD) instead of the usual €99 (~$114 USD)) that, fearing my beloved shoes would eventually fall apart too, I ordered a second pair.
I wish I hadn’t. Although I might have noticed on the website, it only became apparent when trying them on that they’d redesigned my favorite, and the changes were definitely not improvements. The heel section was still as great as before, but they’d changed something at the toe, and it was nowhere near as comfortable as the “original” Sunset. Looking at the current lineup, there appears to be an even newer version where they’ve even eliminated Tropicfeel’s signature little rubber lace locks…
To be fair, Andrea ordered (behind my back!) a discounted AT Lite model at the end of 2024, for about the same price as my second Sunset, and this shoe hasn’t shown any quality problems so far – in the past six months. The toe of my first Sunset is now starting to develop holes where my big toe touches, so it lasted about 2 seasons. On the second, much less comfortable Sunset, the toe glue started separating after less than a year and much less frequent use. I haven’t tried to claim warranty on this yet, but if I work up the motivation, I’ll update the article with developments.
For one-bag travel, consider bringing one sturdy all-purpose shoe and one lightweight, packable backup like water shoes or ultralight sneakers. This gives you options without taking up too much precious luggage space.
Final Verdict: Why I Can’t Recommend Tropicfeel
So the big question: do I recommend Tropicfeel shoes? My answer: absolutely not. If someone had asked me this a few years ago, I would have been the brand’s loudest advocate – even after the first quality issues. But what they did regarding the Geyser Great model’s factory defects is completely unacceptable for any company that claims to care about itself and customer support.
I have to admit the shoes are very comfortable. Or rather, they were very comfortable – my latest Sunset experience suggests even this is no longer guaranteed. But personally, I never had problems with functionality and comfort before. The shoes really are practical, the Sunset packs brilliantly, and the Canyon took me practically everywhere – with thick wool or waterproof socks, even further than originally intended.
However, for shoes positioned in the premium category even with frequent sales, I think it’s completely unacceptable that some models fall apart after just a few uses, while others disintegrate in less than a year under totally normal conditions. Of course, if comfort and packability are your only criteria, and you don’t mind buying the same shoes over and over every six months, then go ahead – you won’t be disappointed with Tropicfeel.
(I should mention in parentheses that among the Trustpilot reviews, there are tons of complaints about shipping and customer service regarding shipping problems. I never had shipping issues myself, and while customer service did respond – albeit slowly – they never provided me with any real solutions.)
I really regret that Tropicfeel has sunk this low. It was fundamentally a very appealing brand, but perhaps they should have invested their money in product development and testing instead of very aggressive marketing, and set some aside for potential warranty cases. I wouldn’t call it a scam, but I wouldn’t call it a reliable, quality brand either.
