Eliza adores mermaids and one of her highlights of Walt Disney World was meeting Ariel.
For the last couple of years she has been asking for a mermaid tail and for Christmas 2016, my friend crocheted her a blanket one which she adores, but she still wanted one she could swim with.
In November she got her wish when Planet Mermaid sent her, her very own mermaid tail, complete with a mono fin and a tankini top.
We had hoped that her swimming teacher would let her try it out in one of her lessons, but sadly all our local pools do not allow children to wear them for safety reasons.
Thankfully my Mum was watching BBC News and spotted Michelle Forsbrey, talking about her new Mermaid Academy based locally in Bournemouth and I knew I had found the perfect present for Eliza’s birthday – a Mermaid Experience, where she could learn the basics of mermaiding.
The experience starts with a safety chat and how to put on, and remove, your fin and tail. Michelle provides the tails and the monofins, plus some fun accessories to use as she takes some photographs by the side of the pool, although Eliza wore her own.
The kids really enjoyed the photo shoot and playing up to the camera. Props included a shell, which became the ‘Shell Phone’, a fishing net and other nautical finds.
Once the photo shoot was over it was time to get in the pool, which is an art in itself.
Mermaid lessons require the children to be able to swim a minimum of 25m. The lesson starts with basic swimming techniques on top of the water to ensure the kids can confidently get back to the side of the pool.
Michelle was brilliant with the kids and went through a number of swimming techniques with them ; Isaac took to it straight away as he is a natural fly swimmer and uses fins at his swimming club.
Eliza is a great swimmer for her age, moving up to ASA Level 8 recently, however she did struggle initially. Michelle patiently talked her through it and after three for four lengths, the technique clicked and she was off.
After a few more practice lengths with Michelle, they moved to the centre of the pool for some under water fun, including finding treasure and marine life under the water.
Michelle stayed with them the entire time they were in the pool, however, she did film some of their antics with her GoPro camera once she was confident they were happy in the water.
It is safe to say that both Isaac and Eliza thoroughly enjoyed their mermaiding experience.
They both achieved their Level 1 Star Mermaid Certificate which means that they can now take part in mermaid lessons as part of a group.
They cannot wait for their next lesson and I am definitely going to book one for me too as it is a great way to keep fit.
For more information, prices and dates, make sure you like Mayim Mermaid Academy on facebook.
The mermaid experience sounds so fun although quite a workout! I’m loving the fins – they’re really beautiful x
I’ve not seen these before, what fun! My eldest would love it when she is a bit more capable in the water x
Oh wow, this looks like such a wonderful experience. Definitely something my daughter would have loved when she was younger.
I’ve loved seeing your video of this, they both did so well and I’m glad Eliza was able to have her dream come true. Mich x
This is amazing! I bet they had such an awesome time! I heard about this Mermaid Academy on This Morning a few weeks back x
This sounds amazing. My kids would love this. They are obsessed with mermaids.
Loving the piccys – what a fab experience! Mermaid academy looks like a dreamy activity to do x
I spotted this o your YouTube channel last week, and it looked amazing! I would love to be a mermaid for a day 😀
Louise x
This looks amazing – what a fantastic experience that I’m sure they will remember forever!
Ahah that’s an interesting concept. “What did you do this weekend?” “Oh, I went to the Mermaid Academy to take mermaid swimming lessons you know”. Love it!
Oh wow what an amazing experience the Mermaid Academy is! It looks quite hard work swimming with the tail so I bet it is a really good work out.
This sounds incredible, do they do classes for adults lol. What a fun, alternative experience for kids, I would have loved to go to this as a kid and I’m still obsessed with Ariel now
I love those costumes! I would have loved something like that when I was a kid. I used to wild swim and pretend I was a mermaid. 🙂
Oh oh my goodness this looks beyond amazing thanks for sharing. My daughter would love this.
Oh my god this sounds amazing!! I wish they done something like this for us adults!
Oh my gosh. That looks so fun. Great that there are opportunities out there to do it now.
Oh my goodness, this is AMAZING! No wonder they’ve got such big smiles on their faces. What a special treat.
This looks so so fun! I’m going to research and see if there is anything close to us as my girls would love it!
What a fun experience, i love mermaids too will be interested in booking for the next season!
I read that about that on BBC too. It was so great of you to provide the lessons for them. I really enjoyed reading about the experience. Thanks so much for sharing!
-Soma