This Teva Hurricane XLT3 review covers the third generation of Teva's most popular open-toe sport sandal, and the sandal I'd point most people to as their first proper walking sandal. At around £70 it undercuts the closed-toe KEEN Newport H2 by £35, and the current listing carries over 5,000 reviews sitting around 4.4 stars, which is a lot of feet voting with their wallets.
The short version: quick-dry recycled polyester webbing, three points of hook-and-loop adjustment, a contoured EVA footbed that got noticeably more cushioned in this generation, and a grippy rubber outsole with proper 3.7mm lugs. It's the value pick in my best walking sandals UK guide, and for coast paths, hot days and travel it covers a huge amount of ground for the money.
I haven't lived in a pair of these myself, so this review is built from the full spec sheet, independent lab testing of the XLT3, and the patterns across those thousands of owner reviews, good and bad. I'll be straight about where the open toe and the comfort-first footbed cost you.
Who is this sandal for?
The Hurricane XLT3 is a warm-weather all-rounder, not a technical hiking shoe with the toes cut off. That's a strength if you buy it for what it is.
It suits you if:
- You want one sandal for coast path days, hot summer walks, travel and river swims
- You're buying your first proper walking sandal and don't want to spend £100+ finding out whether you'll use it
- You value breathability and fast drying over toe protection: think the South West Coast Path in July, not a scree slope
- You're after something that goes straight from a walk to a beach to a pub without looking out of place
- You want straps you can dial in properly rather than a slide or flip-flop that relies on grip strength from your toes
It's less right for you if:
- You're walking rocky, rooty or scrambly ground where a stubbed toe is a matter of when, not if. That's closed-toe territory and the KEEN Newport H2 is the answer
- You need firm, structured arch support. The XLT3's footbed is contoured but comfort-oriented, not corrective
- You're carrying a heavy pack over distance. No sandal is the right call there, and this one doesn't pretend otherwise
The walking sandals hub covers the open versus closed toe decision in more depth if you're still deciding which side of the line you're on.
Specs
- Weight
- ~330g per sandal (men's, single)
- Upper
- Quick-dry 100% REPREVE recycled polyester webbing
- Adjustment
- Three-point hook-and-loop: forefoot, ankle and heel
- Footbed
- Contoured EVA with cushioned, textured topsole
- Midsole
- EVA, 30% recycled content
- Outsole
- Teva Spider Rubber Endure, 30% recycled rubber
- Lug depth
- ~3.7mm
- Stack height
- ~35.5mm heel / ~23.6mm forefoot (~12mm drop)
- Support
- Nylon stabilising shank
- Toe protection
- None: open toe
- UK price
- ~£70–75 (currently £69.97 at Blacks)
What changed from the XLT2
The Hurricane XLT2 had a long, successful run, so Teva didn't rip anything up. The XLT3 is a set of measured updates, and independent lab testing confirms they're real rather than marketing.
The big one is cushioning. The topsole gained around 5mm of extra EVA, taking the heel stack from roughly 31mm to 35.5mm, and the main midsole foam was softened slightly. Lab shock-absorption scores went up, which puts the XLT3 among the better-cushioned open-toe sandals you can buy. Underfoot, this generation is closer to a cushioned walking shoe than the firmer XLT2 ever was.
The straps changed too. The webbing is now 100% REPREVE recycled polyester (the XLT2 used a polyester, nylon and recycled PET blend), and the edges are rolled, which makes them less prone to snagging grass, twigs and trail debris. The outsole moved from the XLT2's Durabrasion compound to Teva's Spider Rubber Endure, with a sharper, more serrated lug pattern.
The costs of all that: the XLT3 is roughly 60g per pair heavier than the XLT2, and the price went up. Neither is a dealbreaker at ~330g per sandal, but if you own XLT2s that are still going strong, there's no urgent reason to replace them.
Straps and the three-point fit
The reason the Hurricane works as a walking sandal rather than just a beach sandal is adjustability. You get three separate hook-and-loop points: one across the forefoot, one over the ankle, and one behind the heel. Set all three and the sandal moves with your foot rather than sliding around under it, which is what keeps you secure on a descent or a wet riverbank.
That heel strap is the one that matters most and the one flip-flop converts underestimate. It locks your heel onto the footbed so your toes aren't clawing to keep the sandal on, which is exactly what makes 15km in a sandal feasible rather than miserable.
The webbing itself is soft for a sport sandal and dries fast, but it's still webbing. Worn barefoot on a long day, the strap edges can rub at the ankle and across the top of the foot until the webbing softens and moulds, and owner reviews back this up as the most common early complaint. Break them in on shorter walks before you commit to a full day, and see the socks section below for the simple fix.
Footbed and cushioning
The footbed is contoured EVA with a textured topsole, and comfort is what this generation is built around. There's a modest arch bump and a cupped heel, enough shaping that your foot sits in the sandal rather than on a flat plank, and the extra 5mm of foam makes the XLT3 forgiving on hard surfaces: promenades, tarmac stretches between paths, long travel days.
Be clear about what it isn't. This is a comfort-oriented footbed, not an aggressively supportive one. If you have flat feet or you're used to the pronounced arch and deep heel cup of something like a KEEN or a moulded-cork footbed, the XLT3 will feel soft and relatively unstructured by comparison. There's a nylon shank in there for torsional stability, so it doesn't fold in half over rocks, but support is not the headline here.
One more thing from testing and owner feedback: the textured topsole is grippy when dry and damp, but when it's fully soaked your foot can slide around a touch more than on KEEN's rubbery footbeds. Worth knowing if river crossings are your main use.
Grip and the Spider Rubber outsole
The Spider Rubber Endure outsole is a genuine upgrade point for this generation. The lugs run about 3.7mm deep, which is deeper than most casual sandals and enough to bite into compacted trail, wet grass and soft ground. The new pattern is sharper and more serrated than the XLT2's, and lab durability testing found the rubber highly resistant to wear, so it should outlast the webbing rather than the other way round.
On wet rock it behaves like most sandal rubber: decent while you're deliberate, not something to trust on steep, greasy limestone. For coast path, downland, forest tracks and riverbanks, which is what this sandal is for, the grip is well beyond what the price suggests it should be.
In and around water
This is where the Hurricane earns its keep. The whole sandal is water-happy: the polyester webbing absorbs almost nothing and dries quickly in the sun, the EVA footbed doesn't care about immersion, and there's no leather or foam padding to stay soggy for hours.
Walk into a river to swim, walk out, and within an hour on a warm day the straps are dry against your skin. That's the practical difference between this and a leather sandal or a padded hiking shoe, and it's why an open sandal like this makes sense for wild swimming stops, paddling with kids and boat days.
The one caveat is the footbed slickness under a fully soaked foot mentioned above. If most of your walking is actually in water, hopping between wet rocks in a stream, the Newport H2's grippier footbed and toe bumper handle it better.
The open-toe trade-off
There's no way to dress this up: your toes are exposed. Kick a rock or a root on a descent and you'll know about it in a way a Newport H2 owner never will.
Open toe gives you maximum breathability, faster drying, less material against your skin and lower weight. It's the right call for beaches, coast paths, well-made trails, hot travel and around camp. Closed toe gives you a rubber bumper between your toes and the world, at the cost of more warmth and more sandal. It's the right call for rocky ground, rivers with unseen underwater rocks, and anyone who's ever lost a toenail to a tree root.
Most people know which camp they're in as soon as it's put like that. If it's the second, read the KEEN Newport H2 review instead. If you're on the fence, the walking sandals hub breaks the decision down properly.
Teva sandals at Blacks
Prices pulled live from Blacks, updated daily. Links are affiliate links.
Sizing advice
Good news after the sizing minefields of hiking boots: the Hurricane XLT3 runs close to standard. Order your usual UK size. Independent fit polling has it true to size, and that matches the pattern in owner reviews.
Two refinements. The toe box runs slightly generous, so if you're between sizes, go down rather than up; overhanging the front edge of an open-toe sandal is worse than a little spare footbed. And whole sizes only are the norm in most colourways, so half-size wearers should round down and use the three straps to take up the slack, which is exactly what they're for.
Remember your foot sits on the footbed, not inside an upper, so there's no need to size up for socks or swelling the way you might with boots.
Socks with sandals
Style opinions aside, socks with walking sandals are practical and I'll defend them. A thin merino sock solves the two main comfort complaints with the XLT3 in one go: it stops the webbing edges rubbing during break-in, and it deals with the sweaty-foot slip you can get on EVA in serious heat. It also extends the sandal into cool mornings and evenings around camp.
Merino is the fibre to use because it stays comfortable damp and doesn't hold smell. A lightweight pair of Darn Tough hiking socks does the job and outlasts the sandals. Skip the socks for anything involving water; wet socks in a sandal defeats the point of both.
Care: keeping them going
The Hurricane is low-maintenance, which is part of the appeal, but two habits make a real difference to lifespan.
First, rinse them in fresh water after salt water or sandy days. Salt stiffens and degrades webbing over time, and grit trapped between foot and footbed acts like sandpaper on both the sandal and your skin.
Second, when they need a proper clean, Teva's guidance is hand washing with mild soap and cold water, then air drying away from direct heat. Don't put them in the washing machine; it's the hook-and-loop and the strap anchor points that suffer. Left to their own devices, the webbing and Spider Rubber outsole are durable, and the usual end of life for a Hurricane is the EVA midsole compressing after years of use rather than anything snapping.
Hurricane XLT3 vs KEEN Newport H2
This is the comparison most buyers are actually making, and it's really the open versus closed toe decision with two specific sandals attached.
The KEEN Newport H2 costs around £105 and gives you a full rubber toe bumper, a more structured and supportive footbed, and a grippier feel underfoot in water. It's the better walking shoe of the two and the one I'd take on rocky rivers and rougher trails. It's also warmer, heavier, slower to dry and £35 more.
The Hurricane XLT3 at ~£70 gives you more breathability, faster drying, less weight, and a fit you can adjust at three points rather than KEEN's single bungee pull. For beach-and-coast-path summers, travel and casual use, it does everything most people need a sandal to do.
My view: buy on terrain, not price. If your toes are at risk where you walk, the Newport H2 is worth every pound of the difference. If they're not, the Hurricane XLT3 is the smarter spend and you can put the £35 towards decent socks.
Pros
- Excellent value at ~£70–75, a proper walking sandal for the price of a casual one
- Three-point hook-and-loop adjustment gives a secure, dialled-in fit
- Quick-dry 100% REPREVE recycled polyester webbing, ideal for swims and crossings
- More cushioning than the XLT2, confirmed by independent lab testing
- Spider Rubber Endure outsole with 3.7mm lugs grips well beyond its price
- Light at ~330g per sandal, easy to strap to a pack as a camp or river shoe
- Runs true to size with a slightly roomy toe box
- Over 5,000 owner reviews at around 4.4 stars on the current listing
What to know before buying:
- Open toe means zero rock protection; rough ground buyers want the Newport H2 instead
- Webbing edges can rub barefoot on long days until broken in; thin merino socks solve it
- Footbed is comfort-oriented rather than firmly supportive; flat feet may want more structure
- Textured footbed gets a little slick under a fully soaked foot
- Slightly heavier and pricier than the outgoing XLT2
Verdict
The Teva Hurricane XLT3 is the easiest recommendation in the open-toe half of the walking sandal market. It's the third generation of a design that thousands of owners already rate highly, the updates are real improvements in cushioning, strap comfort and grip, and at around £70 the value is hard to argue with.
Know what you're buying. It's a warm-weather, coast-and-trail all-rounder with no toe protection and a footbed built for comfort rather than support. Within that brief, nothing at the price does it better, and it's the sandal I'd hand to anyone buying their first.
Rating: 4.3 / 5
Buy the Teva Hurricane XLT3 at Blacks Or buy on AmazonFrequently asked questions
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