Mermaid Spring Splash 2025 Girls Trip at The Spring Hideaway Airbnb in High Springs, FL
Mermaid Spring Splash 2025 Girls Trip
SPRING SPLASH 2025: A Magical Mermaid Getaway!
I’ve just returned and recovered from all the excitement from the annual Mermaid Spring Splash 2025, hosted by the Florida Springs Mermaids at Ginnie Springs. It was a great time seeing familiar faces and getting to meet new friends from all over the world! This area of Florida is truly a Mermaid’s paradise. With the rising popularity of “Mermaiding” as not only a hobby but also as a profession, the annual Mermaid Spring Splash has become a gathering place for merpeople from all around the globe to share their passion for the industry, express creativity and experience sights & scenery that you can’t see anywhere else in the world!
For this occasion, I ventured out without my usual companion, the Sasquatch - for an EPIC girls trip. 2 of my best finned friends travelled from afar (one from Brazil, and one from Nashville) to come together for this FINtastic event! These mermaid friends are not only fellow mermaids, but also fellow small business owners & entrepreneurs! Morganna creates beautiful swimmable mermaid tails, clothing, and more for her brand Sereia Guardia, and Katie is a Fitness / Wellness professional and creator behind the Fins & Fitness Pod Squad on Facebook. Needless to say, throughout this entire trip we were feeling powerful - we were feeling proud - and we were feeling the good vibes!!!!
A Change of Scenery
I was the designated Springs Guide for this trip and was more than happy to get the adventure started! We all arrived at the Airbnb on Thursday night, and had a weekend PACKED FULL of plans. Even more than humanly (or mermaidly) possible, actually. I was very excited to show off all my favorite springs to Morganna and Katie, who had not visited many of these springs before. As a mulitple-generation Florida native, I felt it was my duty to show them the places, tell them the history, and teach them everything I know about these breathtaking Florida swimming holes! I may have let my excitement get to me and possibly OVERplanned the amount of springs that we would be able to make it to, especially with our tendencies to dilly-dally to the MAX. I guess you can call us a few dilly-dally Sallies!
Our Original Itinerary:
1. Wake up early on Friday and get to Itchetucknee Springs at 8am, swim at headspring and take photos with submerged log
2. Next, head over to Troy Springs to get some epic deep water shots
3. Make a pit stop at Little River Springs for cool rock shots
4. Checkout some smaller springs along the Suwannee if time allows
5. Get to Spring Splash at Ginnie Springs by 1:00pm -ish
What We Actually Did:
1. Wake up early on Friday and get to Itchetucknee Springs at 8am, swim at headspring and take photos with submerged log
2. Continue swimming at Itchetucknee
3. Do more swimming at Itchetucknee, make videos and admire fish
4. Lay on rocks like lizards to warm, then do more swimming
5. Head over to Ginnie Springs - oops at 1pm ish
As you can all tell, the waters at “The Itch” were mesMERizing as always and we stayed there swimming and exploring for quite some time. We had the place to ourselves, and it was glorious! I have to say—even after growing up around the springs all my life, the shock of that 72-degree spring water will always make my gills freeze up upon first touch! Cold shock aside, the water glimmer so beautifully that you quickly forget. Florida’s Springs are home to some of my favorite sights in the world. I will never tire of seeing the underwater limestone formations, mysterious caves, the bass, bowfin, brim and other native fish darting around through the aquatic vegetation, submerged trees, and every now and then - the surprise of seeing a cute swamp puppy, AKA alligator.
After we finally made it over to the main event at Ginnie Springs, we hung out on land for a while and met with other merpeople, got to know some of the faces that we see on the internet in real life, and of course - collected our raffle tickets for the generous raffles by the many businesses that donated to the Florida Springs Mermaids, plus Mertailor did their own raffle as well which they were extremely GIVING with! We all donated prizes to the main raffle giveaway, so we were excited to see who the lucky winners would be on the following day!
We spent many hours talking and meeting with friends, and swimming in the spring runs on Friday. After our fins were oFISHally turning blue, we decided to call it a day and head back to the AirBnb, and try and get some rest for the next day.
Our Saturday Itinerary:
1. Wake up at 7am, leave at 8am, get to Ginnie around 8:15 am, go to morning warm up, led by our girl Katie Duncan!
2. SWIMMING
3. Group Photo
4. Swim until we can’t swim anymore!
5. Show and Tail showcase of mermaid tailmakers, creators, and more
6. Go back to the airbnb for some rest and relaxation, enjoy some snail masks with the girls
Saturday pretty much went according to planned, and we got so much done and met so many new friends! We couldn’t believe how quickly the time passed. Show and Tail was an event held at the Turkey Roost pavillion at Ginnie Springs that showcased many mermaid tailmakers including our girl Morganna with her stunning Sereia Guardia tails, (which I now own 4 of!) Creature Fins’ amazing full body silicone creature creations, many Finfolk tails on display, some Merbella tails, all of the lovely Mertailor tails with sneak peaks of his new designs, and many other creators as well.
By Sunday morning, many of our fishy friends were headed back to their own lakes, ponds, rivers, oceans, or wherever they came from. We tidied up some of our things and headed back to the springs for some more underwater fun, and said goodbye to all the other merfolk that were still there.
Throughout the entire event, we were so grateful to have booked the Spring Hideway Home for our resting place. After seeing all the excitement and chaos in the park at Ginnie, we knew we had made the right choice by choosing not to camp.
Our Home Away From the Ocean: The Spring Hideaway Home in High Springs
Our Airbnb, The Spring Hideaway Home in High Springs, is really what helped make this MER-cation possible!! If you have ever been to Ginnie Springs, you will notice that there is not much in terms of lodging, especially those suitable for females travelling on their own. And let’s be real - mermaids and camping don’t always go fin in hand! We have WAY too much stuff to fit in a tent and always have to be looking fresh. After a full day of "splashing and dashing" with hundreds of other mermaids, we needed a place to rest our fins, descale and enjoy some peace and quiet. Most importantly, we needed room to spread out all of our sparkling seashell tops, luxurious tails, crowns and many many accessories! When we found the Spring Hideaway Home hosted by Danielle and Fabio on Airbnb, we were super excited to flip our fins back and relax in the peaceful woods, but also still be very close to all the action at Ginnie. Here are some of the highlights that made this Airbnb MER-Mazing:
Location, Location, Location!
11 minutes to Ginnie Springs, where the main event was hosted
A quick 8 minutes to the lovely Gilchrist Blue Springs
25 minutes to Ichetucknee Springs (our main distraction!)
Minutes away from many other hidden Florida springs along the Suwannee and Santa Fe river like Troy Springs, Little River Springs, Royal Springs, and more treasured secrets!
The Amenities:
Spacious Living: 3 large bedrooms and 2 Full Bathrooms means plenty of space to spread out!
Bedroom 1: Spacious master suite with king bed and full bathroom
Bedroom 2: Large Queen Mermaid’s Room with Queen bed
Bedroom 3: 2 Full Size beds with large closet
Screened-in Serenity: We spent our evenings relaxing on the screened-in back porch, equipped with couch and hammock! This was a major lifesaver for keeping those mosquitoes and gnats out.
Outdoor Oasis: The backyard was a dream! There is a grill if you are craving a feast, a firepit to gather and share stories of underwater adventures, and all the hammocks are great for napping!
The Full Kitchen: Having a full kitchen plus designated dining area stocked with all the equipment was a huge bonus. We cooked up our favorite human-world meals and saved so many sand dollars that we can spend on new tails instead!
Dedicated Laundry Room: Stocked with extra towels, and has a full size washer and dryer! You know the mermaids (and humans) need this!!!
Master Bedroom 1 with Full Bathroom
Scenic outdoor Area at night
Spacious bedroom #2 with queen bed and nice view
Outdoor Space in the Daytime
Spacious Bedroom #3 with 2 Full size beds and nice view
Full Kitchen
Coming back to the peaceful, quiet calm of The Spring Hideaway after the fun chaos of Ginnie Springs was the ultimate form of rest and relaxation. It truly felt like a home away from home—or should I say, a lagoon away from the ocean!
Whether you have fins or feet, if you are planning a trip to the some of the most beautiful Springs that Florida has to offer, I can’t recommend The Spring Hideaway enough! It’s where comfort meets nature.
CLICK HERE to checkout The Spring Hideaway Home in High Springs Florida on AirBnB
CLICK HERE to watch our video showing all the highlights of this Awesome AirBnb!