Mermaid Waters is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the 2011 Census, Mermaid Waters had a population of 11,789. The suburb derives it name from the Mermaid, a cutter ship that brought Australian surveyor John Oxley to the region in 1823. Oxley named the area where he landed "Mermaid Beach". The adjacent area to the west eventually became known as "Mermaid Waters".