It's harder to land on water but it requires less fuel overall, and is safer. Check out the launch/recovery diagram on this article and it will become more obvi

It's harder to land on water but it requires less fuel overall, and is safer. Check out the launch/recovery diagram on this article and it will become more obvious why it would require more fuel to return the booster to land: http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/8/11392138/spacex-landing-success-falcon-9-rocket-barge-at-sea http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/8/11392138/spacex-landing-suc...