Ambassador Lagoon at China’s Atlantis Sanya Resort on the island of Hainan is home to around 86,000 sea creatures — and if you happened to be vacationing there on April 28, you would have been able to catch 110 new additions to the Lagoon.
In celebration of the resort’s third anniversary, it partnered with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and enlisted 110 professional divers dressed as mermaids to break the Guinness World Record for largest underwater mermaid show.
The magnificent display was like a scene from a fantasy movie as the mermaids performed various underwater stunts in the aquarium.
Mermaid diving has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years, especially in China — where the activity has grown exponentially. There are over 1,000 mermaid instructors across China who run programs teaching people how to swim like the mythical creature.
PADI has also launched four new mermaid diving programs — the Discover Mermaid Experience, Basic Mermaid Course, Mermaid Course, and Advanced Mermaid Course — allowing students of any level to participate.
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Dada Li, China’s first female PADI Freediver Instructor and pioneer of the mermaid diving trend, told CNN Travel that “upon seeing beautiful images from other mermaids, consumers almost immediately jump onto the activity itself. Within four short months after the official launch, mermaid courses now account for 30% of local certificates in China.”
She also added that mermaid diving has helped to introduce more people to the world of freediving and scuba diving. In 2018, China saw a 40% increase in people attaining diving certificates, compared to only a 5% growth rate worldwide.
Cover photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash
