The monumental MUSA contains more than 500 permanent life-size sculptures, making it one of the world's largest and most innovative underwater art attractions. It was created to demonstrate how environmental science and art are connected, forming part of a reef structure where marine life can colonise.
© Macca Sherifi / Adobe Stock
As well as providing a fascinating destination for scuba divers, the museum has an important ecological purpose - to increase fish biomass. This means it will increase the number of fish in the area and increase their spatial distribution, enhancing the reef's ecosystem.
When was the museum created?
The underwater museum was founded in 2009 in the waters around Cancun, Punta Nizuc and Isla Mujeres in Mexico. The project was launched by National Marine Park director Jaime González Cano and Cancun Nautical Association's former president, Roberto Díaz Abraham.
English sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor was hired to create the amazing sculptures. The 44-year-old had already completed a similar project in 2006, off the coast of Grenada, when he was commissioned to design the Cancun museum.
He installed unique underwater sculptures which are developing into artificial coral reefs. As a skilled sculptor, underwater photographer, marine conservationist and scuba diving instructor, he combined all of his talents to create the world's largest underwater art attraction.
There are now more than 500 permanent life-size sculptures at MUSA, forming an integral part of the complex reef structure. Each sculpture is fixed to the seabed and they are all made from specialist materials that are created to promote more coral life.
The museum covers an area of more than 420 square metres of the ocean floor, which would otherwise have been barren. The total weight of the exhibits is more than 200 tons.
What does the tour involve?
Scuba diving at Cancun’s underwater museum provides a unique opportunity for tourists to see some of the most amazing underwater statues close to the Manchones reef. Life-size statues are even more fascinating, thanks to the coral, algae, marine life and hundreds of fish which have made the museum their home.
Cancun's coral reef sites are a major visitor attraction and over the years, this has affected the ecosystem and natural areas. The Cancun underwater museum attracts people away from the natural areas, creating a new area where marine life can breed and coral can grow.
Lying between the coast of Cancun and Isla Mujeres, the Manchones reef area attracts turtles, schools of fish, rays and other marine life. It is the largest of the three MUSA sites. Scuba divers can descend to a depth of between nine and 11 metres.
The Isla Mujeres site is located at a depth of between five and six metres, while the Punta Nizuc site is four metres down. The museum can also be viewed by boat or snorkelling, but it is particularly popular among scuba divers.
Statues include The Cross of the Bay, El Bacab, Man on Fire, Dream Collector, Antropocene (a VW car), Silent Evolution, a Beetle car known as Thing Blue, The Promise, The Gardener of Hope, The Listener, Inertia, Resurrection, Vein Man, Void and hundreds more. Having been underwater for ten years, they look both stunning and eerie now they are covered in algae and polyps of coral.
Scuba divers and snorkelers come from all over the world to see the museum. Renowned as a diving highlight of the Riviera Maya and Yucatan Peninsula, it is easy to get to from Cancun. There is a local ferry from Puerto Juarez to Isla Mujeres.
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