Mermaid hire in Australia: the complete guide

Mermaids come in two quite different bookings and people mix them up constantly. One is a performer who visits on land in a tail and costume, running games and stories like any character act. The other gets in the water and swims, which brings a set of safety questions no other act on this site has to answer.

Say which one you want in your first message and the quotes stop looking random. The live prices below are by city, and unsurprisingly the deepest pool of performers sits along the warm coast where backyard pools and beach venues are part of ordinary life.

A monofin tail binds a swimmer's legs together. That is a serious thing in a backyard pool full of excited children, and it is why professional swimming performers insist on conditions: a spotter or safety person on the deck, clear water, a known depth, no children in the pool during the swim, and a limit on how long they are in.

If a performer agrees to everything without asking you a single question about the pool, that is your answer. The ones who know what they are doing will ask about depth, steps, the temperature, whether the pool is salt or chlorine, and where they can sit safely at the edge. Let them set the rules.

Whether the booking is wet or dry, this is close work with children and the same question applies. Each state and territory runs its own working-with-children clearance, so ask which one the performer holds and ask to sight it rather than accept a yes over the phone.

Being listed here is not a check of any kind. We do not verify the acts on this site and we would rather be blunt about it. For a pool booking, ask about their water safety and first aid training in the same breath, because that is a fair question and the professionals expect it.

Live figures by city sit in the table under this. A dry visit of about an hour sits at the lower end. Pool performances cost more because the tail is an expensive piece of equipment, the sessions are physically hard, and there is often a second person on the deck who has to be paid too.

Session lengths are short in the water, usually broken into stretches with rests between. That is not the performer being precious. Swimming in a bound tail while performing for an audience is genuinely demanding, and a tired swimmer in a pool is the situation everybody is trying to avoid.

On land the performer sits or reclines, tells stories, runs shell and treasure games, does face painting or glitter, and poses for a lot of photographs. It travels well to a hall, a lounge room, a park or a shopping centre, and it removes every safety complication in one decision.

A tail on land means the performer cannot walk, so think about where they will be placed and how children come to them. A low couch, a rug with cushions, or a shaded spot on grass all work. They will also need a hand getting into position and out again, so nominate an adult to help.

Open water is not a backyard pool. Surf, current, cold and depth make a beach performance a specialist job, and plenty of performers will only do shallow, calm, photo-focused work there. Ask what they will and will not do, then believe them.

Aquatic centres and hired venues usually have their own requirements: their lifeguards on duty, their insurance, sometimes their permission for a performance at all. Speak to the venue before you book the performer, because a swim approved by neither of them is a booking that falls over on the day.