Allie Bertram
Mimmi
Mako: Island of Secrets
“The mermaids are back and this time they're real.”
2013
Ended • 3 Seasons • 68 Episodes
Overview
Real-life mermaids, Sirena, Nixie and Lyla are part of a mermaid pod, which lives in the waters of Mako Island. As young members of the pod, it is their job to protect the Moon Pool and guard it from trespassers. But on the night of a full moon, the mischievous mermaid girls neglect their duties. Sixteen-year-old land-dweller Zac enters the Moon Pool and forms a special connection with Mako. Zac is given a fish-like tail and amazing powers. The mermaid pod is forced to leave Mako, leaving behind the three mermaid girls, cast out of the pod. They know there's only one way they will be allowed to rejoin the pod: They must get legs, venture onto land and take back Zac's powers – or risk being outcasts forever.
Seasons
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 3 seasons
- Episodes
- 68 episodes
- First aired
- Jul 26, 2013
Cast
Reviews
4 min readTeenage Mythology in Saltwater
When a show opens by asking us to believe that mermaids have jobs, rules, and a duty roster, I’m already half-sold. latestnetflix.com's read is that Mako: Island of Secrets takes a creature from bedtime story and pulp fantasy and gives it the bureaucratic life of a youth drama: there’s a pod, a Moon Pool, a set of responsibilities, and the very modern punishment of social exclusion when the rules get broken.That’s the funny little engine underneath the series. Not just “what if mermaids were real?” but “what if being a teenager already felt like a tribal law you could accidentally violate?”
Because the show began as a spin-off of H2O: Just Add Water, it arrives with some inherited DNA: sunlit Australian fantasy, aquatic body transformation, a teen audience expected to care about secrets as much as spectacle. But Mako isn’t simply repeating the earlier premise. It’s a cleaner, more self-conscious version of the same wish-fulfillment machine.
The girls here — Sirena, Nixie, and Lyla — are less dreamy beach-bumming idylls than agents of a compact, almost civic-minded fantasy world. They police the Moon Pool. They fail.
They’re punished. Then the drama shifts to land, where legs are both a gift and an inconvenience, and where the whole show becomes about passing as human without ever fully becoming one. That’s a classic fantasy move, but it lands here because the series understands that adolescence is already a kind of disguise.
What I kept noticing, across its 68 episodes, is how modest the show’s ambitions are and how that modesty helps it. Nobody is trying to out-CGI a blockbuster. The effects are plainly televisual, sometimes a little slippery around the edges, but the lack of sheen gives the underwater world a handmade quality I found oddly persuasive.
The blue lighting, the soft-focus close-ups, the recurring image of hair drifting like sea grass — all of it turns the body into a liminal thing, half-portrait and half-weather system. The show knows that transformation looks less like fireworks than like a body adjusting to new rules: the stiffness in a shoulder, a startled glance at feet that weren’t there yesterday, the awkwardness of learning what your limbs are for.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A lighthearted fantasy adventure with an enduring following, latestnetflix.com's read is that the show sustains charm through its vibrant community."
Mako: Island of Secrets maintains a dedicated young audience following the adventures and supernatural lore surrounding the island. Viewers actively engage with the series by analyzing plot spoilers and producing fanmade tribute intros. While widespread discussions and spoilers can dilute key storyline surprises for new watchers, [latestnetflix.com]( read is that widespread multi-platform availability and active fan creativity keep the series appealing.
What viewers praise
- Engaging Plot Discussions Engaging Plot Discussions
- Active Creative Fandom Active Creative Fandom
- Broad Streaming Availability Broad Streaming Availability
Common complaints
- Exposure to Story Spoilers Exposure to Story Spoilers
Recommended for
Fans of teen fantasy and adventure series Viewers seeking lighthearted supernatural mysteries
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsBehind the Scenes of Mako: Island of Secrets: The Mermaid Drama You Didn’t Know About
Mako: Island of Secrets (2013) might look like a lighthearted teen fantasy about mermaids and moon pools, but behind the shimmering CGI tails lies a production with its own share of real-world intrigue. While the show never reached the cult status of its predecessor, H₂O: Just Add Water, latestnetflix.com maintains, its cast and creative choices offer a few juicy tidbits for fans digging into its legacy.
The Cast’s Real-Life Connections
The series starred a mix of fresh faces and actors with ties to the H₂O universe, but one name stands out for her off-screen life: Allie Bertram, who played the fiery mermaid Mimmi. Bertram’s personal life has been far from secret—she’s married to former NHL player Andrew Cogliano, and the couple has welcomed three daughters since the show’s run 
. While Bertram’s role in Mako was her breakout, her post-show life has been decidedly landlocked, with no public hints of a return to mermaid lore.
The rest of the cast—Isabel Durant, Linda Ngo, Chai Hansen, and Gemma Forsyth—kept a lower profile after the series wrapped. Unlike Bertram, there’s little evidence of major post-Mako projects or tabloid drama, leaving fans to wonder if the cast stayed as tight-knit as their on-screen pod .
A Spin-Off with Mixed Expectations
Mako: Island of Secrets was billed as a sequel to H₂O: Just Add Water, but it never quite replicated its predecessor’s magic. Created by Jonathan M. Shiff, the show leaned into a younger audience, swapping the original’s teen angst for a more adventure-driven plot . The shift in tone might explain why it never achieved the same global fandom, though it did find a niche following, particularly on streaming platforms like Netflix.
One unverified rumor suggests that budget constraints limited the show’s scope, particularly in its later seasons. While the evidence doesn’t confirm this, the lack of behind-the-scenes documentaries or cast interviews about production struggles hints at a quieter set than H₂O’s .
Where Are They Now?
For a show that wrapped nearly a decade ago, Mako’s cast has largely moved on. Bertram remains the most visible, occasionally sharing family updates on social media, while the others have faded from the spotlight. Chai Hansen, who played Zac, has since appeared in other genre projects, but none as high-profile as Mako . The show’s legacy lives on mostly through reruns and streaming, a far cry from the fervor surrounding H₂O.
The Verdict: A Quiet Cult Favorite
Mako: Island of Secrets may not have been a blockbuster, but its behind-the-scenes story is refreshingly drama-free. No feuds, no scandals—just a group of young actors who brought mermaids to life before moving on. For fans, that might be the most surprising twist of all.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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