Title: Weeki Wachee: City of Live Mermaids – Weeki Wachee, Florida  - Atlas Obscura
Headings: Weeki Wachee: City of Live Mermaids
Weeki Wachee: City of Live Mermaids
Weeki Wachee, Florida
Welcome to old Florida, where a 1940s mermaid show is still enchanting visitors.
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Content: Robin Wendell/CC by 2.0
The mermaids, pictured here on a postcard, perform underwater acrobatics and dance. Steve Shook/CC by 2.0
Little Mermaid Performance at Weeki Watchi jennifer4 (Atlas Obscura User)
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Long before Disney World became the staple of Florida ’s tourism industry, there was Weeki Wachee, the City of Live Mermaids. Since opening its doors in 1947, Weeki Wachee has attracted thousands of roadside visitors—and aspiring mermaids—from all over the world. Set on 538 acres and home to the deepest naturally formed spring in North America, this state park is best known for its live Mermaid Shows, where “half-fish, half-human” performers swim and dance in an underwater theater built 20 feet below the spring’s surface. It was built by former Navy man Newton Perry who invented a new way of breathing underwater and taught it to some girls who were willing to perform while submerged. It takes rigorous training to become a full-fledged mermaid.