Fla. Mermaid camp lures aquatic wannabes
WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. -- The heartbeat of the earth bubbles up through the cold, clear depths of the Weeki Wachee spring and into the souls of the mermaids who frolic there. Some swim lost in azure abandon, some are cleansed and renewed, and some are healed of sorrows as deep as the vast cavern below.
For 65 years, mermaids have been the magic behind one of Florida's oldest and quirkiest attractions. Through ups and downs, Weeki Wachee has survived, triumphing over benign neglect and Disney World. In the ever-changing landscape of Florida tourism, Weeki Wachee mermaids have been beloved constants for decades. These are beautiful young sirens of the deep who still enthrall with their underwater ballets filled with daring and romance, mystique and magic.
And it's that magic that draws women 30 and older to the Sirens of the Deep Mermaid Camp.
"There is no other place like this in the world," said camp leader Barbara Wynns upon greeting the recent bevy of would-be-sirens the weekend of May 5 and 6. "You will be transformed."
Wynns was a performing mermaid at Weeki Wachee from 1967 to 1969 and 1972 to 1975. Since 1997, she and other mermaid alumni have reunited to perform monthly shows that have proven wildly popular. A small cadre of those mermaids assists Wynns in hosting the monthly summer camps.
"When we show, we know what you're feeling," she told the campers. "We know what we've been doing for 65 years, and you leave here knowing you're a mermaid."
The Sirens of the Deep campers get into the ancient spring to learn moves and swim like the "show" mermaids who perform daily. The show performers rely on air hose systems deployed deep in the spring, designed years ago by Ocalan Newt Perry. But the campers free dive as they learn to swish their aqua tails and entertain family members and friends snapping photos and videos inside the underwater theater.
Healing waters
Camper Elaine Martin, 53, from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, had no idea she would be attending mermaid camp.
"I had three family members dying or gone recently. My family wanted me to have a break in the bad action, so we came to Florida for two weeks," she said early on the morning of May 5.
During her vacation - filled with trips to Universal in Orlando, boating excursions and Segway adventures - Martin's husband told her over dinner two days prior to the mermaid camp that she would be attending.
"I used to swim in circles in a backyard pool, pretending to be a mermaid," Martin said, her face aglow in rouge, her hair decorated with twin plumeria blossoms and her neck draped with a necklace bearing charms in the form of starfish and other marine creatures.
Her eyes beaming with joy, yet reflecting a deep sadness, Martin said she was on her high school swim team and was a lifeguard and swim instructor, and has done water yoga. Clearly, she was eager to don her spandex mermaid tail and slip into the depths of one of Florida's first-magnitude springs to let the soothing waters ease her troubled heart as she fulfilled her childhood dream.
In the water, Martin tended to stay down deep, performing complex moves. Each time she came out of the water, her shoulders seemed more relaxed, her step a little lighter.
Near the end of camp, Martin dove really deep and twirled in a tight circle, whirling as if she were sloughing off her troubles and leaving them on the bottom.
On with the tail
Related Stories
ABC News Live