Fish swim in schools so it stands to reason that mermaids would too, right? In fact, learning how to operate that monofin skillfully requires lessons. That’s what AquaMermaid School does. Teaches people “how to swim like a mermaid.”
Did you read that and think, “AquaMermaid School? Is there such a thing?”
There sure is and since they have locations all over the world, what better day than March 29 to write about it? Or, as it’s listed on the Weird Holidays & Observances page, International Mermaid Day.
And if you’re wondering how I discovered the school, it all started with the “Mermaid in Nashville” episode of Paranormal Caught on Camera.
The Case of the Nashville Mermaid
I had waited with “baited” breath (pun intended) for the episode to air on February 5 because I wanted to know which Middle Tennessee lake she’d been spotted in. I hoped it was Percy Priest. That’s where have our sailboat.
Even though the show took some liberties with B-roll footage of a lake that was not Percy Priest, the woman who had used her phone to record a mermaid swimming in a Nashville lake had been at Percy Priest. Whoop!
However, after I watched the segment, I had to dive into the case more because I had further questions. Namely, which part of the lake had she filmed the mermaid?
It looked like near the dam, which, as I’ve written about before, got me super excited because our dock faces the dam. That’d make looking for her easy!
Here’s a video I made of our slip in relation to the dam and why I think that’s where the mermaid was spotted.
After I posted the video and wrote about my quest to uncover where the Nashville mermaid had been spotted, two fellow Middle Tennesseeans clued me in about the AquaMermaid School’s likely connection with the mystery: William Uchtman (who also shared info on why it wasn’t real) and our pier neighbor, Richmond.
About AquaMermaid School
AquaMermaid School is a unique way to host anything from a birthday party to a bachelorette party.
In addition to offering weekly swimming lessons for kids as well as adults, they also offer “leisure swims” or “community meetups.” Which, as they state on their website, is a way to “focus on having fun mermaiding without having to worry about all the logistics of searching for a pool that allows mermaid tails, finding other mermaids to swim with, & planning dates & times to meet up.”
Who knew “mermaiding” could be so logistically complicated?
AquaMermaid School Locations
Schools are located primarily in the United States and Canada, but there is also one in Tulum, Mexico, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
U.S. Locations
Austin, TX
Chicago, IL
Las Vegas, NV
Phoenix, AZ
Sunny Isles, FL
Nashville, TN
Canada Locations
Edmonton
Ottawa
Quebec
Montreal
Toronto
AquaMermaid School Cost
Prices range from $60/hour per person for a Discovery Class to $200 a person for a four-week class, one hour each time.
Private Party rates start at $300 an hour for a group of five people, $30 a person after that.
Mermaid tail rentals are included with all options. However, you don’t have to take classes. You can also just rent a tail. Tail rentals start at $800 a week (five days), which includes shipping for out-of-state mermaids.
24-hour rentals are also available for local residents for $400.
AquaMermaid Tails for Sale
The AquaMermaid School also sells all kinds of kid and adult mermaid tails, including silicone, fabric, sequin, and monofins.
The monofins are the least expensive and are really just conjoined flippers.
Fabric tails are just over $100 and sequin tails are just over $800, but if you want a seriously realistic-looking tail, the silicone ones will do it —for a mere $1,400 and change!
To complete the look, they even sell mermaid bras. Made from seashells, nautical rope, and pearls of course.
But this reminded me of something author Priscilla Bettis once told me, how it’s not hard to buy a mermaid tail. I went to look on Amazon and sure enough. There were all kinds, but the Fin Fun and the Sun Tail brands seemed to be the highest-rated and most affordable, costing between $69.95-$79.95
This is a good time to note that we participate in Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you click through the above links and end up buying anything, we may earn a small commission. (For which the Skeleton Crew says, “Thank you!” That helps cover our website maintenance and hosting fees!) For more info, visit our affiliates page.
Was the Nashville mermaid playing hookey from AquaMermaid School?
Since there’s an AquaMermaid School in Nashville, I’m willing to bet, as our boat neighbor Richmond pointed out, that there’s likely a connection to the mermaid sighting in Percy Priest Lake.
Richmond believes they may meet up at the lake. Or maybe one ditched “school” and decided to go splash around in the lake last summer?
I feel like I’m getting closer to an answer…
For More Info
Visit aquamermaid.com.
Check-In
Have you ever wanted to become a mermaid for a day —or even just an hour or two?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
Hey, that’s me.:-) I like using a monofin, but I wouldn’t want to be a real mermaid. I might be shark bait!
LOL! I wondered if you’d get a kick out of that. And shark bait: that’s how I feel every time I step into the ocean, mermaid tail or not! (which I’ve never actually tried. little intimidated by the thought of having my legs confined like that.)