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Step into a world of imagination and adventure with an experience unlike anything else in the Outer Hebrides. Designed for strong swimmers who have mastered the dolphin kick, this unique activity transforms you into a mermaid or merman for a day of swimming, snorkelling and exploring Benbecula's coastal waters in a completely different way.
The experience begins with a detailed fitting session where you'll be equipped with specialist cold-water gear designed to keep you comfortable in Atlantic conditions. Unlike simple costume tails, this adventure focuses on creating a realistic swimming experience, with carefully selected wetsuit layers, thermal protection and equipment designed specifically for extended time in the water.
Once prepared, you'll travel to a suitable coastal location chosen according to the weather and sea conditions. Additional equipment such as masks, snorkels, fins and weighting systems are adjusted before the final transformation begins. Your legs are carefully secured together to create the appearance and movement of a mermaid tail, producing a surprisingly convincing effect both in and out of the water.
With the transformation complete, it's time to enter the sea. Using the dolphin kick technique, you'll swim through clear coastal waters, explore reefs and kelp forests, rest on small rocky outcrops and experience the coastline from an entirely different perspective. The day concludes with warm drinks, photographs and plenty of stories before returning to Balivanich.
Benbecula's coastline provides an ideal setting for this unusual adventure. Sheltered bays, clear water, offshore rocks and extensive kelp forests create a natural environment that feels perfectly suited to a mermaid experience.
The surrounding islands of the Outer Hebrides offer dramatic coastal scenery and some of the clearest waters in the UK. Depending on conditions, locations may include remote beaches, quiet inlets and secluded stretches of coastline where the experience can be enjoyed away from busy areas.
This experience is specifically designed for very strong swimmers who are already fully confident and proficient using the dolphin kick swimming technique. Because your legs will be secured together during the activity, good water confidence and previous swimming experience are essential.
Please bring swimwear, a towel, warm clothing, drinking water and a packed lunch. This activity is intended for adults only due to the physical demands and specialist nature of the experience.
There are plenty of mermaid costumes available online, but very few experiences attempt to create something that genuinely feels immersive once you enter open water. This adventure has been developed to provide a far more realistic and memorable experience, using specialist equipment, detailed preparation and carefully chosen locations.
Thomas has combined years of cold-water experience with a creative approach to produce something genuinely different. The result is a day that blends fantasy, swimming, snorkelling and coastal exploration into one unforgettable Hebridean adventure.
Hey, hey!! .... So - have you ever really wanted to become a Mermaid or Merman and swim within the beautiful turquoise waters of a 'Dr No' style secret and secluded Pacific Island retreat?!
Have you seen the 80's cult hit movie called 'Splash'?
Were you mesmerised by Madison - the lustrous and blonde locks lady that ventured ashore at Liberty Island!
Did you ponder how it would feel to be like her - to be bonded and sealed as one within her orange tangerine 'gold-fish' scales - for your legs to be a tail, unable to walk and so you MUST swim.
To have the choice taken away from you and to be enspelled by Neptune's curse, to forever be a mermaid, sleek and serpentined from that day forth and how it would feel to swim through the sea or to clamber ashore and be nestled within the kelp or perched upon a rock!
How would you do this and how would you slip back into the water before finning away with such wonder and shimmery mystique.
Well if you are aged 18+ and you are a very strong swimmer and already able and confident and fully proficient with the 'Dolphin Kick' leg manoeuvre and have a deep desire to become your alter ego Daryl Hannah and want to forego your two-legged liberty in favour of a more fishful - wishful fantasy then you may be interested in my Mermaid Metamorphosis Service!
Please note you may find other 'mermaid style fabric tails' with quick-release fins on Amazon or other sites, this is not the type of Mermaid transformation that I offer - my experience is much more involved, transformative and will also give you that feeling of - 'Ok, now I am a Mermaid' and 'this is real'!!!!
You ABSOLUTELY MUST be proficient, confident, calm and experienced with the 'Dolphin Kick' leg manoeuvre before you contact me about this service!!! Katie Kate MacLeod The real-life Mermaid of the Outer Hebrides Wild Swimming 'real-life' mermaid
So what's involved?
Well, the first factor to bear in mind is that although the paradise water here is crystal clear and teeming with underwater life and beautiful kelp gardens of flora and fauna, fish, seahorse, otters and seals, is that it remains oceanic and being the Outer Hebrides the sea is COLD!! Atlantic Cold - All year round! (when we are talking about any realistic underwater submersion activity for a really decent amount of time!)
So this demands something a bit better than a fabric affair more suited to use within a warm swimming pool!
But have no fear - I can protect you and 'forcefield' you from this Atlantic chill plus the mesmerising graceful and stunning jellies, by, as with all my water activities, a substantial and decent - thought through 'kitting-out-process'.
With this prior acceptance of the realistic necessity to shield within a neoprene head to toe skin, we can start to build up the stages of becoming an Atlantic Mermaid or Merman!
Stage 1 - kit out, meet and greet plus initial safety / location briefing.
I issue you with a fantastic 'smooth-skin' layered suit of either 1 or 2 slim and close-fitting - fully flexible Triathlon suits. These may have an additional 7mm 'swimsuit' style neoprene swimsuit also included for added core warmth and therefore afford you reduced buoyancy on the legs to aid with powerful application of the 'Dolphin Kick'.
Please note: This is a slimmer more flexible set-up of suits in comparison to my other 'Dive Adventures'.
Stage 2
Actually - really this is stage 1, however, like this, you can see how the build-up of protection is a necessity. So we also need to ensure that our hands, feet and head will be protected and neutralised from the chill.
Being a Mermaid or Merman, we will keep a 'smooth-skin' set-up wherever possible. Gloves, hood, socks and boots will be issued. Boots with socks enable an extra layer of insulating warmth which really makes all the difference - though this then necessitates the use of 'jet boot fins' rather than the slipper type fin worn with socks that would provide far too little insulation.
Stage 3
I issue you with either a blonde, black or red wig to wear over your wetsuit hood when in the sea! After all, you are transforming into either a Mermaid or Merman! These are optional .... as is every part of this adventure!
Stage 4
Travel to the Mermaid insertion dive point - the place where your fantasy Mermaid adventure swim / snorkel dive takes place. We will have donned our wetsuits already - ready to rock!
Stage 5
Issue of Masks and Snorkels with high-quality silicone mouthpieces plus knives and wrap safety shears! Jet fins are also provided here. Slimline (mermaid) form-fitting weights are also issued and adjusted here to offset and neutralise the buoyancy that results from our warmth providing neoprene.
Stage 6
Following further safety briefs which will give you a proper understanding of what lays ahead, the process of becoming a Hebridean Mermaid now enters its final stages with the application of 'cling film' or 'shrink wrap' to your legs. Your legs will now become your tail!
Foam padding is placed between your thighs, knees and lower legs to avoid discomfort and you are then wrapped in colours of your choice. If the shrink wrap is opted for then gentle heat is applied afterwards which will further shrink and mould / fix your tail permanently into place!
A choice of black, red, green, yellow and blue film or wrap will give you a unique pattern of distinction or if prefered opt for just one single hue. Your fins are also bonded together and coloured to produce a single and continuous fishful entity from your hips to the tips of the fins. You will appear to be very fish-like, smooth and streamlined at this point! You will also be unable to walk - now that you are a mermaid!!
If cling film is utilised then this will happen by the point of entry. If shrink wrap is utilised then final transport to the dive entry point from my 'dive bus' will be via an 'off-road' skateboard, thus adopting the downhill 'luge' position!! (you must have seen these skateboarding mermaids before?!!)
Stage 7
We enter the water and off we go!
There will be multiple breaks on rocks, tiny protruding wave-lapped islets and slippery but snug restful kelp!
You'll fin through a huge variety of different underwater seascapes, over reefs and through kelp forests - sometimes pulling yourself along or through their envelopments by holding onto the fronds which rise upwards.
There will be fish abundant all around you and a multitude of different shades of blooming seaweed, kelp, curvies and thongweed!
Seabeech, laver and velvet horn will be the surroundings of your new underwater home!!
Starfish, Sea Urchins and crabs will be active and if we are silent and lucky then we may happen to come upon an elusive otter or two!
Seals will survey us and be inquisitive as to who are these new long-locked mermaid beings, who have entered their kingdom. The sound of nature will be loud, in the sky will be Lapwings, Cormorants, Herons and Oystercatcher to name but a few.
Stage 8
We exit the water and then cut ourselves free from our Mermaid tails and release our feet from our fins. We then enjoy and reflect on the whole experience with a nice cuppa - before driving back and finally doffing our wetsuits.
The price for this whole experience is £360, or as low as £223 per person within a group of 4 - this takes into account the uniqueness of this activity and also the amount of preparation and planning and safety measures that are involved with the added risk of becoming a mermaid and foregoing the use of our individual legs in favour of a fish-like form!
Yes. This experience is intended for strong swimmers who are already comfortable in open water and confident using the dolphin kick technique.
Because your legs will be secured together during the activity, being able to move efficiently through the water beforehand is essential for both comfort and enjoyment.
No. Unlike a standard snorkelling trip, this activity requires a higher level of swimming ability and confidence.
If you're interested in becoming more comfortable in the water first, one of the snorkelling or freediving experiences would be a better starting point.
Most costume tails are designed for swimming pools and short sessions in warmer water.
This experience has been created specifically for open-water use in the Outer Hebrides, with specialist cold-water equipment and a much more immersive transformation process.
Yes, once the final transformation is completed, your legs are secured together to create the mermaid effect.
This is a key part of the experience and helps create a much more realistic feeling once you enter the water.
Yes. Different colours can be used during the transformation process to create your chosen look.
This helps make every mermaid or merman experience slightly different and gives your final appearance a personal touch.
The waters around Benbecula are home to fish, crabs, sea stars, kelp forests and a variety of other marine species.
With a bit of luck, you may also encounter seals or spot otters around the coastline while exploring.
An optional wig can be provided as part of the transformation process.
This is entirely your choice and is simply intended to add an extra element to the overall experience.
About the centre
Balivanich, Isle of Benbecula
Operated by Benbecula Freedive and Fitness, a partner of adventuro.
Southern Province, Sri Lanka
From $348.72
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
From £400
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
From £400
