Pools / Swimming areas JUST for mers ?

[Rebela Hunter]

I thought about this a lot today and I'd really like to see something like this happen!

I've heard a lot about how some mers can't even wear just a monofin in some public or community pools and springs, so wouldn't it be cool if there were mer-operated mermaid pools/springs ? Only for those who have monofins, tails, or just want to see some mermaids! Kids could come to have lessons or watch volunteer mermaids swim around in an underwater viewing area and things of the like! It'd be running off of donations and volunteers keeping the place clean and alive...

I hope I can make this a reality in the future!
What do all of you mers think? Does this sound good? Any pros or cons to this?

[Rett]

Sounds like a dream! I don't know how actually feasible it is though because it would take a ton of money to make and upkeep. To even upkeep you would have to charge mers a fee (something super small like $3?) to swim. If it was in a central location of a lot of mers I could see it being the set venue of mer pool parties and events like that. Then mers could pay a small fee to use the venue for those events. You could have payed mermaid shows in the display area you talked about too maybe? And have a mer themed giftshop? It's still a bit unrealistic I'm afraid though. You'd have to do whatever it took to keep the place open.

[theMerFanc]

Yesplz

it would cirtainly take a lot of hard work and time but honestly, what dream worth dreaming doesn't. All public pools have a fee to swim. Mi currently pay $8 a swim or $70 for a ten pass and I would easily pay $10 a pop for a mer specific place. Plus, if you add deals like monthly or yearly passes, you get that money up front. I would definitely say you would need to have a private swim are for folks with tails and fins only and then a second, more public pool for people who wanted to swim with Mers or have Aries or whatever else. For general safety.

[Merman Dan]

We are such a diverse community. Some prefer pools, others mights swim in lakes and springs, others prefer the ocean, and and then there are those who will swim anywhere. Where do you envision this facility? Someplace warm like Florida or perhaps an indoor pool? Would this be a place for a day swim or a long weekend? There are many questions to be answered but it's fun to dream!

[MermaidLiara]

Would love this. Perhaps this would work if you would restart a closed down / bankrupt pool.

Man, our own pool... shows, underwater viewing area, underwater cameras, mermaid theme shop, seafood restaurant, lessons, garden area to relax and get to know each other...

[Merman Dan]

I found this one a few weeks ago:
"Come play where the Indians played, on your own 40 acre island with an Indian Mound over 8 feet in elevation. Find artifacts on your oyster shell beach like arrowheads, pottery, etc. It is approximately one half mile to electricity on Pasco Island. Hangover Island is centrally located between the Crystal River and the Homosassa River on the beautiful Saint Martins River. Crystal River is home of the world's largest Manatee sanctuary; all the local waterways have manatee. They migrate right past Hangover Island. The wildlife and fish populations abound, that's why they call this The Nature Coast of Florida. The St. Martins River has a marked channel - it is approximately 2 miles to the Gulf of Mexico and one mile to the town of Ozello. The quaint waterfront town of Ozello is located approximately 30 minutes to Ocala, 1 hour from Tampa, 2 hours from Orlando (Disneyworld)." Hangover Island (http://www.privateislandsonline.com/islands/hangover-island)

38694
Open in Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps/@28.82023,-82.68395,1321m/data=!3m1!1e3)

[Merman Andrew]

I thought about this a lot today and I'd really like to see something like this happen!

I've heard a lot about how some mers can't even wear just a monofin in some public or community pools and springs, so wouldn't it be cool if there were mer-operated mermaid pools/springs ? Only for those who have monofins, tails, or just want to see some mermaids! Kids could come to have lessons or watch volunteer mermaids swim around in an underwater viewing area and things of the like! It'd be running off of donations and volunteers keeping the place clean and alive...

I hope I can make this a reality in the future!
What do all of you mers think? Does this sound good? Any pros or cons to this?
It's a great idea, but it definitely would have it's challenges. Firstly and most importantly is making sure you can cover running costs. If you make it for merfolk only it does drastically reduce the number of people that will get through the door and thus the income you could receive for it.

I think you would probably need to consider several initiatives, such as having regular professional performances there as a way to draw tourists and charge them a premium to watch the show. At other times they could watch the other mers swimming around though that would probably not be enough to draw a tourist crowd on its own.

A mer swim school is obviously a good idea and another way to attract people to the pool but that would not be able to run all the time. You may also want to consider hiring out the pool privately to other groups outside of the times the mer swimming is run, or even have it become a regular pool for certain hours of the day and the other hours are for mers only.

Another thing to consider is insurance/safety. What safety procedures will you have in place to ensure that Mers who visit the facility are competent swimmers (such as conducting a swim test before they are allowed to use the pool and giving a certificate of entry to those who have passed the test) and also how will your life guards be able to spot a mer in danger underwater? You might need some guards watching at an underwater viewing area.

I know that many mers here are going to say that you should insist every person swimming in a tail should have a spotter/buddy and while this is certainly recommended it would be nice to have a pool like this where adult mers could swim on thier own and rely on the lifeguards to be the spot if you get into trouble. If you require that every mer has to have a buddy I think it lessens the amount of Mers that would come regularly through the doors. You could insist that all children under a certain age have continuous parental supervision though.

Check that there is even somewhere that is prepared to insure this before you go ahead because if you cannot get insurance you can't open it unfortunately. You may be able to get around this by making it a regular pool at other times so that the pool can be treated as a regular pool for insurance purposes, but I'm no expert on insurance!

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