sandals

When it's this hot, I don't particularly want to wear proper walking shoes and socks, yet I always seem to come home with a sore ankle after walking more than a mile or so in sandals. I own two pair of sandals (a water-sport pair from Lands End, and an ancient pair from Easy Spirit) and they seem equally comfortable and equally likely to cause ankle problems. They're really quite comfortable. I've tried on any number of shoes that hurt, or that made my feet hurt, and my sandals don't do that. But they don't provide much support, either.

I've seen hiking sandals in stores like EMS and REI. Have any of you worn such things? How are they on whatever kind of support keeps people from hurting their ankles when they walk long distances on more-or-less paved surfaces?