Cancun Scuba Diving at MUSA: An Underwater Museum Near Isla Mujeres

Have you heard about the hundreds of underwater statues that have been placed around Cancun? What exactly is this museum? Where is it located? And how can you experience the Musa statues?

Keep reading and discover one of the most incredible underwater creations of our time and why it is worth a visit. 

What is the MUSA underwater museum in Cancun?

This is an ongoing effort to help the oceans recover from the effects of tourism. The idea is to create artistic wonders out of a ph-neutral concrete which is lowered into the ocean via a crane to create homes for marine life in the ocean.

This project started up in 2009 and whilst they currently have around 500 sculptures already in the water, MUSA is planning on having about 1,364 of them in time. These artificial habitats are structures that have been designed especially to help the National Marine Park giving corals the ideal surfaces on which to grow. Right now a couple of underwater galleries have been made but a total of 10 different sites for these artistic creations have been assigned.

In time these cement statues will become artificial reefs that help boost the growth and stability of marine life. Even in the short time that they have been underwater, the statues have already started to be transformed by nature, and in time it is likely that the entire sculptures will be so covered by growth that their original form will be almost unrecognizable.

This is also a reason why it's important to see these sculptures now before nature overtakes them completely. 

Where to see the Cancun underwater statues!

Contrary to what a lot of people believe, the underwater museum of Cancun is quite spread out in varying depths and locations. Whilst some of these spots are located between the mainland and Isla Mujeres, let us take a look at the 3 key spots for swimming through these sculptures so you know where you are going.

Discover art in Manchones reef

Manchones Reef is easy to get to and can be found right next to the southern tip of Isla Mujeres. This is where most of the sculptures are located with 473 of them currently in place. This area is around eight to ten meters deep making it a perfect place for you to enjoy some scuba diving in Cancun. 

Explore the sculptures in Nizuc Cancun

At the southern point of the Cancun Hotel Zone, you can find Punta Nizuc, then if you head out east into the ocean you will find Nizuc Reef. This part of the museum is only about two to four meters deep making it perfect for snorkeling but not very suitable for Cancun scuba diving. In this area, there are currently around 33 statues to enjoy.

Visit the wonders of Punta Sam

Punta Sam is about 5 minutes from Playa Mujeres and directly in front of Isla Mujeres. Here the water is about three meters deep and well suited to turtles and seagrass. So far there are only about 9 statues in this area, though certainly more are to come. 

Can you find these statues yourself?

While you could head to any of these areas and start searching the ocean floor for sculptures, it would be like searching for a needle in city sized haystack. The Caribbean Sea is a big place and you really need a tour guide to show you around and lead you to all the top spots.

What underwater sculptures exist in Cancun?

There are a total of 515 underwater creations for you to experience and that number can increase at any time. So as you can imagine, we cannot list every single sculpture. However, I can point out some popular MUSA museum pieces that you can find.

The names of some of these works of underwater art are as follows…

• The Promise
• Silent evolution 1
• Silent evolution 2
• Mines 
• Bomb
• Seascape 1
• Seascape 2
• Seascape 3
• Anthropocene
• Bacab
• The banker
• Biomap
• Urban Reef 1
• Urban Reef 2
• Man on fire
• The dream collector
• Cross of the bay
• Reclamation
• Gardener of hope
• Inertia
• Void
• Inheritance
• Marco plano
• Holy Man
• Ocean Muse
• The Last Supper
• Understanding
• Threshold
• The speaker
• Vein man
• The anchors
• Self immolation
• Ice breaker
• Resurrection
• Blessings
• Vestiges

How to visit the underwater museum of art…

The Cancun underwater sculptures are not hard to get to, but you do need to be in the area to maximize convenience. The best place to stay where you can organize your snorkeling or scuba diving experiences with easy access to the nearby marina is Excellence Playa Mujeres.

This adults only escape is located just opposite Isla Mujeres in the double gated community of Playa Mujeres making it the perfect spot to travel from to spend a day out in the ocean before returning back to your All Inclusive relaxation. 

If you have any more questions about the MUSA experience you can also contact your resort concierge who can help you book your tours and transportation.