Weeki Wachee Springs

While most amusement parks in Florida have gone the way of mega theme parks, there are still pockets of kitschy old Florida left to discover. On the Gulf Coast, just north of Tampa and in/near Spring Hill, there is the delightful Weeki Wachee Springs – a place so beloved by native and local Floridians, we just might get in trouble for spilling the beans on this well kept secret. Read on, and if you are in the area, go and enjoy!

Weeki Wachee Springs is located one of the smallest towns in America, called Weeki Wachee. The population: 9. And the current mayor was a Mermaid, but more on that later. Now, although Weeki Wachee the town is extremely small, there is a theme park there unlike anything else in the country. Weeki Wachee is a water park that receives its water from a spring called Weeki Wachee – and this spring is so deep, scientists are still unsure how far into the Earth it goes. This water is coming deep from the Earths crust, for it is heated at the surface year-round at a cool 72 degrees, with this heat generating from the Earths interior.

In a large basin of water, guests go into an underwater amphitheatre and take their seats, looking into the glass and the natural water on the other side. Mermaids then appear and perform a half hour set. Mermaids? Yes, Mermaids – Weeki Wachee is famous for its Mermaids. These performers are people who act completely underwater, never surfacing for air. It’s really quite incredible. The Mermaids use underwater tubes (which are hidden in the scenery and hard to spot) to breathe, but the during the show, they never once go to the surface! The spring has a fast current of about 5mph, so it is also remarkable that these mermaids put on an entire show twenty feet below the surface, and fight the current…all without ever surfacing for air! The Weeki Wachee spring flows through the basin where the mermaid show takes place, so the occasional manatee, turtle, and fish join the Mermaids, much to the delight of children. The even more occasional alligator joins the Mermaids, which adds a whole new level of danger (how thrilling!) to the show. This fabulous show has been running for over fifty years, and in its heyday, Elvis came and cavorted with the Mermaids, who are/were treated like royalty throughout parts of Florida.

The show is at once cheesy but genuinely fun. Maybe the two aren’t so very different after all…but in any case, after the show, the Mermaids somehow make it to dry land to give autographs. There is a Mermaid gift shop, which sells anything and everything related to Mermaids. The Weeki Wachee Animal Show is okay, but nothing compared to the Mermaid Show (to be fair, that is a difficult number to top). There is also a River Boat Cruise, which takes people down the springs of Weeki Wachee to display the natural wildlife found in the area. If you desire to be more independent in your excursions, there are kayak and canoe rentals for you to explore Weeki Wachee yourself; if you are interested in SCUBA diving, Weeki Wachee Springs provides that as well.

Adjoining Weeki Wachee is the Buccaneer Bay Theme Park. This water park is definitely more geared towards younger children, and it is a little outdated. But lest we forget, the attraction at Weeki Wachee are the extraordinary Mermaids, not the water slides!

Florida Tourists Guide