Take a moment to imagine life under the Caribbean Sea, to envisage shoals of bright fish dancing between corals… Now imagine your favorite museum transported beneath the waves. That’s just what you will find at MUSA, Cancun’s underwater museum.
MUSA, or the Museo Subacuático de Arte in Cancun is the underwater wonder of Cancun and Isla Mujeres. In short, it is a sunken museum which exhibits sculptures from British artist, Jason de Caires Taylor who, in 2009, founded the non-profit organization. MUSA also features exhibits from Mexican artists Karen Salinas Martínez, Rodrigo Quiñones Reyes, Roberto Díaz Abraham and Salvador Quiroz Ennis.
These talented artists created beautiful and evocative works to be exhibited underwater that, as time has passed, have created a stunning man-made reef which provides habitat for Mexico’s colorful Caribbean marine life. Nowadays, MUSA is one of the most popular dive spots in Cancun – a unique activity that captures the imagination and serves as a reminder that humans, too, can shelter nature.
There are a number of exhibition spaces at MUSA that fall within two central locations; Manchones Reef, just off Isla Mujeres’ coastline, and the Nizuc Reef which has an even newer set of exhibits near the hotel zone in Cancun. By booking a diving or snorkeling tour with a MUSA approved tour guide in Cancun you can see the museum up close. If you wish to do this, why not reserve places on an excursion through the tour agent at Villa del Palmar Cancun. You will then be able to experience the art-reefs in all their majesty, led by a local guide. In fact, you can even organize a night dive; the sculptures make for an eerie kind of fairytale beauty at night.
But, here’s the really great news … not only can you can enjoy these underwater galleries by taking a diving or snorkeling tour but also from a glass bottomed boat or by para-sailing over the museum sites. Perfect for those Villa del Palmar guests who don’t want to get their hair wet!
The MUSA museum is one of those sights that you’ll remember forever, a superb feature page for your scrapbook. If you are as impressed as we’re sure you will be, you can even leave a donation to support future projects.
