From Haenyeo to Mermaids: How Jeju’s Sea Women Inspire Today’s Ocean Dreamers

An interview with Helena Bresson by MerMapp CEO, Corinna Schwozer

When I first spoke to Helena for our last blog post about the rise of mermaiding in Korea, something sparked in the conversation that I couldn’t shake off. We had talked about costumes and culture, idols and underwater aesthetics — but underneath it all, I could feel another current running deeper.

Helena didn’t just love the ocean. She lived it.

And when she mentioned that she’d become part of the Haenyeo — Korea’s legendary sea women who dive without tanks to harvest food from the ocean floor — I knew we needed to talk again. This time not just about the world of performance, but survival, sisterhood, and legacy. Because sometimes, the fantasy of mermaiding leads you right back to reality — and what a powerful reality it can be.

Here is Helena's story.

🧜‍♀️ From Mermaid to Haenyeo — Or the Other Way Around?

Q: What did it feel like to be accepted into such a legendary community of sea women with centuries of wisdom?

Helena:
To be welcomed into the Haenyeo community is humbling beyond words. These women carry centuries of knowledge in their bodies and breath. For me, becoming even a small part of this lineage felt like being adopted by the ocean itself. It’s not just about harvesting from the sea — it’s about resilience, pride, and a rhythm of life tied to tides and seasons.

🌬️ Where Fantasy Meets Legacy

Q: How do mermaiding and the Haenyeo tradition connect for you, both spiritually and physically?

Helena:
On the surface, mermaiding and the Haenyeo practice may seem worlds apart, but beneath it all they share the same heartbeat: breath, water, and surrender. Mermaiding celebrates fantasy and imagination, while the Haenyeo embody survival and heritage. For me, they come together in their reverence for the sea, in the deep sense of community they foster, and in the physical strength it takes to dive, endure, and rise again and again.

🫧 Lessons from the Deep

Q: What lessons has the ocean taught you through both mermaiding and your Haenyeo journey?

Helena:
The ocean is the strictest but most generous teacher I’ve ever had. It teaches humility when currents are strong, patience when visibility is low, gratitude when it gives you food, and awe every single time it holds you weightless. From both mermaiding and the Haenyeo practice, I carry the same lesson: the ocean doesn’t bend to you — you must listen and adapt to it.

Q: How did your journey unfold from freediver and mermaid to becoming part of the Haenyeo community?

Helena:
I’ve loved the water all my life. I started swimming at five and spent every chance I could either floating in a pool or swimming in the ocean. In 2016, I watched a Tahitian man dive deep into the sea without any equipment, and in that moment I knew I needed to become a freediver. From there, I began exploring mermaiding as a form of expression, performance, and storytelling — a path that eventually drew me closer to Jeju’s real ocean culture, the Haenyeo. While organizing a world championship freediving competition, I reached out to the Haenyeo because they are the original freedivers, and I thought it would be incredible to have their involvement. I had always admired them as the first freedivers and true mermaids, but I never imagined I could one day become one myself. To be welcomed into their tradition and legacy is an honor beyond words.

🌊 What It Means to Be Welcomed by the Sea

🐚 The Myth and Memory of Jeju

Q: How did you first come cross Jeju’s ocean legends, and how do these myths and memories live on today?

Helena:
I grew up hearing fragments of Jeju’s ocean legends — whispers of spirits, mermaids, and sea women with extraordinary strength. On this island, myth and daily life have always flowed together. But many of these stories are fading, as the older generations are passing away. It isn’t only the Haenyeo — so much of Jeju’s wisdom and memory risks being lost forever. There are countless stories still waiting to be told, and if we don’t share them now, they will vanish.

🛠️ There’s No Manual for Becoming a Haenyeo

Q: What does training as a Haenyeo actually look like, and how is it different from mermaiding?

Helena:
There really is no formal ‘training’ to become a haenyeo — you have to live it. There are no pool drills, no staged lessons, no manuals to follow. You learn by entering the sea day after day, letting the ocean itself shape you. That means adapting to tides and currents, building the stamina to dive in cold water, and developing the instincts to return safely with what you need. It is very different from mermaiding, which is playful, creative, and performance-driven. But being a haenyeo has given me a deeper strength and familiarity with the sea, and that has allowed me to explore mermaiding in the ocean with more comfort and confidence. One is art, the other is survival — and together they give me balance.

👭 Real Sisterhood is Built in Saltwater

Q: What does the sisterhood of Haenyeo mean to you, and what can the mermaid community learn from it?

Helena:
The haenyeo sisterhood is unlike any other. It’s mothers, daughters, grandmothers — generations linked by water. They work side by side, share food, laugh, argue, and protect one another. That bond is survival. In mermaiding, I think we could learn so much from this: to see each other not just as performers but as family in the water, building strength together.

Q: How has living between mermaiding and the Haenyeo practice changed your perspective on both?

Helena:
Mermaiding enchants; Haenyeo dive to live. Both require breath, courage, and grace, but one comes from abundance and the other from necessity. Living between the two has shifted my perspective — it reminds me that mermaiding, as an art and lifestyle, can’t remain only in fantasy. It has to be rooted in respect for the ocean and for the generations of women who faced real risk in its waters. That survival-based reality gives mermaiding more weight: it’s not only performance, but also a way of honoring their strength while creating something new from it.

⚖️ When Art Meets Necessity

🧘‍♀️ Rituals of Resilience

Q: Haenyeo dive in rough seas and harsh conditions — how do you manage fear and stay grounded in those moments?

Helena:
Fear is always there. Haenyeo dive in rough seas, in freezing waters, in currents that don’t forgive mistakes. What keeps me grounded is breath and ritual — a moment of silence before I dive, a check of the sea, a focus on the calm the water gives me. Peace isn’t the absence of danger; it’s the ability to face it with steady breath and a clear mind.

🌉 Bridging Two Worlds

Q: Looking ahead, what’s your vision for the future of Haenyeo traditions and the global mermaid community?

Helena:
I see the future as a bridge. The haenyeo tradition must be protected, honored, and passed down, even as modern mermaiding grows into a global art form. I dream of festivals where the two stand side by side — mermaids performing, haenyeos sharing their wisdom — both showing the world that the sea is not only a place of livelihood and legend, but of healing and imagination, too.

From fantasy fins to harvesting tools, Helena swims through two worlds most of us will never know like that — and yet, somehow, she makes them feel completely connected.

Through her, we’re reminded that mermaiding can be more than performance — it can be a tribute. A way to keep stories alive. A way to honor those who came before, even while we shape what’s next.

It’s not just about diving deeper into the water — it’s about diving deeper into what it means to belong to the ocean, and to each other.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the real magic of mermaiding.

🌟 Honoring the Past, Creating the Future