The mermaids of Weeki Wachee have been performing underwater since before television was a household fixture — and nearly eight decades later, the show still runs exactly like it did in 1947.
Weeki Wachee Springs State Park sits on the Gulf Coast near Spring Hill, where professional swimmers take turns stepping into an underwater theater built right into the spring itself. The routines are performed live, breath-held, with no dubbing or post-production to soften anything. Alongside the shows, Buccaneer Bay water park has opened parts of its summer season — though not all of it. The kiddie area is currently under renovation to make room for one large water slide and an enclosed flume slide, so parents looking for that section this year will find gates closed. Everything else at Buccaneer Bay remains open, including the Mermaid Show, the Ranger Experience program, Wilderness River Cruise tours, and the animal exhibit on-site.
For families deciding how to spend a day in Hernando County, the park offers something other theme parks can’t: an attraction whose identity was never licensed from a movie or borrowed from another decade. It is the original thing, not a tribute act. Summer camp enrollment is also open now for three youth programs — Jr. Mermaid Camp lets kids learn the basics behind the show, Jr. Ranger Camp covers the park’s natural science program, and Jr. Lifeguard Camp teaches water safety through Buccaneer Bay staff.
Good to know: 6131 Commercial Way, Weeki Wachee, FL. Daily 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Admission runs $13 for adults, $8 for ages 6–12.