But on April 28, this huge aquarium welcomed 100 mermaids, all flapping their technicolor tails while gliding through the water in choreographed movements.
What is mermaid diving?
Similar to freediving, mermaid divers don’t wear a tank or use any external aids except for their mermaid tail. But the two styles have major differences in terms of movement.
To find out more about the sport, we caught up with Dada Li, one of the country’s pioneering mermaids and China’s ambassador to PADI, the world’s largest diving association.
“Freediving beginners usually wear bi-fins, which enable both legs to alternately move, but a mermaid tail ties both legs together so they can’t move freely,” Li tells CNN Travel.
“Instead, we need to use our belly and waist to move like a dolphin. It requires practice to make this movement smooth and elegant like a real mermaid.”
Li’s first underwater sea experience took place in the waters of Thailand’s Phi Phi Islands, in 2012. From that moment, she was hooked.
“The world below the ocean surface looks completely different from land; I was amazed by the underwater scene, colorful fish and corals, and also the sensation of being in the water,” says Li.
“Since that trip, I was addicted to the ocean. Then I took a
On April 28, 100 mermaids took to the waters of Atlantis Sanya’s Ambassador…
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