While Ariel dreamed of being human, many humans dream of being mermaids (and mermen), and now you can experience it!
My mom, our friend Megan and I went to an Introductory Mermaid Swim class at AquaMermaid Chicago during our birthday weekend extravaganza. It was very memorable.
We arrived right at the start after some traffic, so we quickly got ready and hustled out to the poolside. Once we were with the group it was time to relax and channel our inner mermaids.
First, you put on your fin… put your feet in the tail and then slide the rest of your fin up your body. This is just as fun as it sounds. Picture putting on your tightest skinny jeans, on your back with your feet being held together with at least eight other strangers in the room. Now add to that image my very majestical manatee figure and it was quite the picture. I mean video… Yes. I have video of this experience for you. You’re welcome.
Then you sliiiiiide into the pool. And then hop into place. Again, so majestic and magical.
But once you’re in the water it’s all flips and fun. You learn the basic mermaid moves, including my favorite – the mermaid high-five. This is when you and another mermaid greet one another by tapping your tails together. I could have done that all day. Then you head to the deep end.
In the deep end you learn front and back flips and to round out the class there’s a mermaid relay. It was the Dinglehoppers vs. the Sea Stars. And the Dinglehoppers crushed us! One “mermom” (that shall remain unnamed… well, sort of) was having so much fun swimming she didn’t turn back half way but almost made it to the other end of the pool before returning.
Finally it was time for pictures. This proved harder than putting on the fin. You have to get yourself out of the pool using mainly your arms, which if you’re a majestical manatee-shaped mermaid is very difficult. See 2:22 in the video for those fun attempts!
The entire class takes an hour including a little time at the end for pictures. We had a really great time. Tons of laughs and many, many tail flips. Mom loved it so much that she plans to purchase her own tail so she can continue her mermaid adventures at home.
Here is the video of our experience.
The cost for the AquaMermaid Chicago introductory class is usually $60. However, there was a Groupon which reduced the cost to $45. We were also able to use an additional coupon on Groupon for a further 25% off. That meant the final cost for the class per person was $33.75, so almost 45% off.
One small thing I’d change would be to add 15 minutes to the beginning AND end of the class for pictures. This was a really fun memory, but we don’t have any dry pictures when we were all dolled up in our mermaid make-up and necklaces beforehand. We arrived just in time for class, not the 15 minutes before, but pictures are only mentioned as being done at the end. Having a few more minutes in the pool for mermaid practice and free swim would have made the hour of mermaid swim completely full, with a bit of time after for photos.
Making it really clear that friends or family are welcome to stay during the session would have been great too. The boys went off to Starbucks for our girly swim, but that meant that our pictures during the session are limited to my GoPro.
Additionally, it would have been helpful to have something to help mer-manatees out of the water. I just don’t have the upper body strength to pull my ample tail fin out of the pool with my legs together. I had to swim to a corner and then have a friend help shove me up onto the side of the pool. That was after many unsuccessful attempts to use the ladder and pull myself up on the side.
If there was one thing I LOVED it was our instructors. They were amazing, fun, encouraging and kind. They never made us feel self-conscious or uncomfortable. Even with other mermaids’ friends and family nearby, it was a really relaxed and fun time.
Communication with the AquaMermaid Chicago staff for booking was really easy. A comprehensive list of things to bring/not bring was provided beforehand which was really helpful.
Overall, I’d highly recommend a mermaid swim at AquaMermaid Chicago or any of their other locations in North America.
Address
AquaMermaid Chicago, 828 S Wolcott Ave, Chicago, IL 60612
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