Silverton Casino in Las Vegas Opens Mermaid Lessons to Teens and Adults

Posted on: September 21, 2022, 05:31h. 

Last updated on: September 22, 2022, 10:36h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Being a mermaid isn’t just for little kids and Daryl Hannah anymore. The Silverton Casino in Las Vegas will now let anyone learn how, ages 7 to adult.

Silverton Casino Mermaid School
The SIlverton’s Mermaid School gives students a tail and a huge tank of real fish to swim around in. Previously available only to little kids, today it opened up to teens and adults. (Image: silvertoncasino.com)

The Silverton’s Mermaid School for Kids is held most Saturday mornings from 8:30-10 a.m. Sessions for teens and adults are select Sunday mornings. The children and teens get a celebratory post-class gelato, adults a mimosa. (And the Silverton promises not to get them mixed up!)

Reservations can be booked at least 24 hours in advance at silvertoncasino.com.

The Silverton opened in 2004 with its mermaid show as the main attraction. The mermaids swam around inside the 117,000-gallon tank as a voiceover narrated hokey storylines about them not unlike the Fall of Atlantis attraction at the Forum Shops.

The show was done away years ago. Now, the mermaids simply swim around and interact with guests through the aquarium glass three times a day. To breathe, they use a “hookah” breathing device.

School of Fake Fish

The Silverton introduced its Mermaid School in 2019 for kids ages 7-12 only. It was stopped by the pandemic shutdown and relaunched in April 2022. Now, teens and adults are also allowed on select dates.

During the 90-minute experience, participants transform into Silverton mermaids and swim among the tank’s thousands of tropical fish and (non-lethal) rays. Each session includes a warm-up class, goggles and a mermaid tail (only to borrow!) and a behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium and its sea life.

No breathing device is used since all swimming is done near the surface of the 15-foot-deep tank. All participants need is a swimsuit, towel and strong swimming skills.

‘Mermaiding’ is an Actual Thing

The Silverton has actually helped spawn a trend by whetting the public’s appetite for mermaids for 20 years. Now, wearing fins and tails to swim is considered the actual sport of mermaiding. It’s done in pools and the open water, for audiences or privately. And the availability of lightweight fabric tails and monofins through the internet has encouraged hobbyists and professionals to form swim schools, groups and conventions across the US, Canada, Australia, Philippines and China, according to the Associated Press.

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, Swim School International and National Association of Underwater Instructors all offer courses in mermaiding.

And last year in China, mermaiding went even more legit when the Guinness World Records accepted a gathering of 110 professional mermaids — performing underwater at the Atlantis Sanya in Sanya, Hainan Island — as the world’s largest mermaid show.