Weeki Wachee Springs, FL

If you're interested in the strange and unusual then what could be better than a trip to the "world's only city of live mermaids"? Well, possibly the sighting of a genuine mermaid, but for most of us the human performers at Weeki Wachee Springs are probably the closest we'll get.

The tiny city of Weeki Wachee (one of the smallest in the US, often mis-spelt "Wiki Wachi") is located in Hernando County, Florida, just off Highway 589 about 35 miles northwest of Tampa.

City of Mermaids

The main claim to fame of Weeki Wachee is its Springs, a popular tourist attraction with the self-proclaimed title city of mermaids. As well as the mermaid attraction the Springs is also home to the Buccaneer Bay Water Park.

History

The show was created in the 1940s by an ex-navy SEAL trainer by the name of Newton Perry. He built his 18 seat "underwater theater" and employed attractive young women to perform as mermaids. The performers were taught techniques that Perry had learned as a frogman and used equipment he had developed to give visitors the illusion that they were living happily almost 20 feet under the water.

In 1959 the Springs were bought by ABC who built a new 500 seat theatre and invested heavily in the attraction. They also introduced themed shows based on popular movies such as The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan.

In 1961 some 15,000 fans gathered at the site for a visit by Elvis Presley. More recently the Springs featured in the 2005 music video for "Low C" by Supergrass.

In recent years there has been some doubt over the future of Weeki Wachee Springs following disputes with the landowner. As a result, the site lease was taken over in 2003 by the City of Weeki Wachee and a "Save Our Tails" campaign was launched.

2007 marks the 60th anniversary of the Weeki Wachee city of mermaids and a three day celebration is planned for July.

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