Cariuma Naioca Pro Skate Shoes Review 2023

The Cariuma Naioca Pro is a low-cut vulcanized skate shoe designed to offer incredible boardfeel, stability, and comfort while remaining true to Cariuma’s environmentally-friendly skate shoe roots. In this review, I will skate the Cariuma Naioca Pro and test its features to help you learn if it’s the right shoe for you.

Here is my honest review of the Cariuma Naioca Pro Skate Shoes.

The Highlights & Specs of the Cariuma Naioca Pro

Sizing: I find these to run one half size too large. I typically skate Men’s 8.5 in DC, Vans, and Lakai. In Cariumas, I skate a men’s size 8.

• The main reason to get these shoes: They have a minimal impact on the environment and skate incredibly well. The Naioca Pro was designed with ethically sourced rubber, organic canvas, and recycled plastic. You can learn more about Cariuma’s sustainability efforts here.
•  The Naioca Pro offers the perfect amount of boardfeel, grip, and comfort.  
•  It is an excellent option for flip tricks. The combination of the Naioca Pro’s grippy sole and rubber-textured toebox offers a level of flick you won’t find in other skate shoes. 
•  These are some of the most comfortable skate shoes you can buy. These have memory foam and provide excellent arch support.
• These are durable skate shoes. They have reinforced stitching in the ollie and flick areas to increase the life of the shoes.

Main Features of the Naioca Pro Skate Shoe

Here is an overview graph of all of the features of the Naioca Pro.

Cariuma describes the Naioca Pro as being “crafted for optimal performance, boardfeel, and stability,” so let’s take a deeper look to see how it is different from their original skate shoe, the Catiba Pro.

How is the Cariuma Naioca Pro Skate Shoe Different From the Catiba Pro?

When I first heard about the Naioca Pro, I thought it was the same exact shoe as the Catiba Pro with a new name. At first glance, it looked nearly identical to me. After staring at it for a few more seconds, it became clearer that there were a few core differences.

Here is an image of the Cariuma Catiba Pro Low showing off some of its colorways.

Now, here is an image of the new Cariuma Naioca Pro show of its colorway.

Here are the main differences between the Cariuma Naioca Pro vs. the Catiba Pro Shoes.

• The Naioca Pro is $10 cheaper than the Catiba Pro.
• The Naioca Pro has a smaller logo on the side with matching fox tape.
• The Naioca Pro has a reinforced toe box to make the shoe more durable for flip tricks.
• Both shoes have the same eco-friendly construction and grip for flip tricks.

The first difference I noticed was that the leaf logo on the side is smaller and looks to be made of a leather-like material in the Naioca Pro, while it was an organic suede in the Catiba Pro. The larger leaf logo was the first part of the Catiba Pro that would rip, so it looked like the Naioca Pro would stay fresher looking longer.

The Naioca Pro has more of the traditional vulcanized skate shoe look to it. It has fox tape that matches the colorway of the upper part of the shoe. It looks like the Naioca Pro is slightly lower cut with a sleeker, more Vans Old-Skool look, while the Catiba Pro looks closer to Lakai or Adidas.

The Naioca Pro has a reinforced toe box to add durability for the wear your shoe will get from kickflips. Cariuma added an additional rubber underlay underneath the suede upper to keep the Naioca Pro lasting a few sessions longer.

After that, an important difference is that the Naioca Pro is ten dollars cheaper than the Catiba Pro. While skating the Naioca Pro, I didn’t notice any reduction in the shoe’s overall quality when compared to the Catiba Pro shoe.

Why Did I Buy the Cariuma Naioca Pro Skate Shoes

I was a fan of how well Cariuma’s first shoe, the Cariuma Catiba Pro, skated, so I wanted to see if these shoes were as good while being a cheaper option.

The Catiba Pro really held up for me. It skated well and was one of the most comfortable shoes I’d ever put on my feet. Those details alone were enough to get me to try the Naioca Pro. I thought, “if these shoes were anything like the Catiba Pro,” I knew I would like them.

Cariuma’s logo has been the backdrop of every single skateboard contest. It’s hard to see footage of skateboarding without seeing their logo. Their presence is everywhere and for a good reason. These shoes are excellent.

The Pros: What do I like about the Cariuma Naioca Pro Shoes

The Price

The Naioca Pro is $10 cheaper than the Catiba Pro while still maintaining the same comfort, boardfeel, and durability.

The level of grip makes kickflips feel easier

Cariuma’s skate shoes have two features that make flip tricks feel easier to me. The rubber lining that would flick your kickflips is lined with a diagonal grippy rubber pattern. It looks like this.

This pattern helps with offering additional grip for kickflip tricks.

Next, the Naioca Pro’s sole has a grippy zig zag pattern that looks like this.

The zig-zag pattern offers additional traction and grip while skating. It helps to reduce slippage while increasing your stability when you push and stand on your deck.

Comfort With Some Arch Support

I love how comfortable the Naioca Pro shoes are. The memory foam insole offers some arch support, and it is incredibly soft. Here is what it looks like.

Here is an image from the side to show the arch support. The part that supports your arch is memory foam, so it will match the profile of your foot.

Notice in the image above how thick the memory foam insoles are. While that helps make the shoe incredibly comfortable, it also helps absorb shock from taking higher impacts. If you’re skating stairs or loading docks, you’ll love these shoes for their balance of boardfeel with comfort.

The Cons: What do I not like about the Cariuma Naioca Pro Shoes

Runs a half size too big

Cariuma’s shoes run one half size large. I saw this with the Catiba Pro, too, where I would have to double up on socks because the shoes were a half size too big. When I ordered the Naioca Pro, I tried one half size lower, and now they fit perfectly.

For comparison, in Vans, DC, and Lakai, I am a men’s 8.5. In Cariuma, I am a men’s size 8.5. I recommend going one half size down if you will be skating in these.

Most of the other reviews say they fit true to size, so if you run into an issue where you need to go one size smaller, just send yours back and order the next size down. Cariuma offers free return shipping.

They Don’t Allow You to Replace the Right or Left Shoe Only

In an effort to reduce waste and help you save money, Cariuma allowed shoppers to buy only a right or left foot replacement of the Catiba Pro. When you are just learning to skate, you might go through the shoe of your front foot faster than your back foot. Cariuma made it easy for you to buy either the left or the right shoe of any Catiba Pro style. However, they don’t offer that same option for the Naioca Pro shoe. If that isn’t a feature that is important to you, it is still a way to save some money and get a solid skate shoe.

Who Is the Cariuma Naioca Pro a Good Fit For?

These would be perfect for any skateboarder.

The shoes look great. They’re comfortable. They are durable, and best of all, they are good for the environment.

Specifically, anyone working on their flip tricks will benefit greatly from owning a pair of the Cariumas.

The Naioca Pro is a great fit for anyone who wanted to try the Cariuma Catiba Pro and thought the $90 price was a little too expensive to try out a new skate shoe. The Naioca Pro is a little less expensive than the Catiba Pro while still skates just as well.

What Other Benefits to the Cariuma Naioca Pro are There?

The main benefits are that these shoes skate exceptionally well while having a low impact on our environment. When you buy a pair of shoes from Cariuma.com, they plant two trees in the Brazilian rainforest.

How Quickly Do They Wear Down?

My Catiba Pros lasted me around two months or 50 hours of skating before I tore through the fabric upper part of the shoe. My Niaoca Pros just hit 50 hours and the upper part of the shoe still hasn’t ripped.

Here are a few pictures I’ve taken to indicate how long I was skating the shoe when these were taken. The main takeaway is that the Cariuma Naioca Pro shoes last longer than most other vulcanized skate shoes.

Scuffs at 10 Hours of Skating the Cariuma Naioca Pro

I am 10 hours into skating the Naioca Pro, and I can already tell they will last around the same. I’ll update this section of the review with pictures as my pair of Naioca Pros begin to wear more.

So far, only the diagonal rubber on the sole has shown some wear from kickflips.

Loss of Traction at 50 Hours of Skating the Cariuma Naioca Pro

At the 50 hour mark the sole of the shoe has noticeably lost its traction in the toe and heel.

There are some tears on the upper part of the shoe. However, none of these have come close to tearing all the way through.

I do a lot of heelflips, and I am noticing that I can see foam at the top and a reinforced rubber section on the sides. Neither of these side tears are ripping through the foam or preventing me from skating in any way.

These shoes are very much still skateable. However, the loss of traction is ultimately going to be why I swap them out and not because they tore to the point of being unskateable.

I can safely say that the Cariuma Naioca Pro lasted me as long as the Cariuma Catiba Pro, so if you could only pick one, I recommend saving the $10 and going with the Naioca Pro.

Overall Rating of the Cariuma Naioca Pro Skate Shoes

Considerations	Rating Out 5.0
How Well They Skate	5.0
Durable	5.0
Boardfeel & Grip	5.0
Comfort	5.0
Overall Quality	5.0

Editor’s Rating:  5.0 out of 5.0 stars

Would You Recommend the Cariuma Naioca Pro?

Of course, I do! These are excellent skate shoes. There is a reason why Cariuma’s shoes are right on the top of our best skate shoes award list. It is because both the Naioca Pro and the Catiba Pro shoes skate so well.

You’ll have to give them a try.

Skateboarding has not been the most environmentally friendly sport. Every few weeks, we take a piece of maple mixed with glue and throw it out only to buy a new one. That’s just the board itself. We also go through shoes constantly.

The fact that we now have a premium skate brand that is environmentally friendly, we can and should do our part to preserve the skate park that is our planet.

Where Can You Buy These Cariuma Shoes?

You can buy the Cariuma Naioca Pro shoes on Cariuma.com.

Thanks for reading this Cariuma skate shoes review.

Looking for more skateboard reviews? Check out the other reviews I’ve written

• Cariuma Catiba Pro Skate Shoe Review
• Comparing the Strongest Skateboard Decks
• Powell Peralta Flight Deck Review
• Girl Pop Secret Deck Review
• Element Flat Bar Review
• Transformer Skate Rail Review
• Santa Cruz VX Skate Deck Review