At the beginning of 2008 Jaime Gonzalez Canto and Jason deCaires Taylor began to create the plans for an Underwater Museum, which would be formed by nature into a coral reef. Dr. Jaime González Miki, the Director of the National Park Costa Occidental Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun y Punta Nizuc, saw that the natural coral reefs were being damaged by tourist, anchors, and divers. He began to see that the largest coral reef in Cancun, Mexico Manchones reef was becoming the most damaged because it is the most visited by divers and snorkelers The number of visitors that come by the thousands to Cancún every year to swim and dive in the natural reefs will have a new coral reef to explore and begin to help the reefs that have been damaged. Dr. González Canto suggested to the President of the Cancun Nautical Association at the time, Roberto Díaz Abraham, the idea of taking snorkelers and divers to an area where concrete reefs with some corals had been placed at the beginning of 2005, to begin directing snorkelers and divers away from Manchones reef. By January of 2008, Roberto believed that it would take many more years for these artificial gardens to flourish and become an attraction, making him walk away from this project. Dr. González Canto knew there was a way to protect the coral reefs and build an artificial reef in which would also attract tourist away from damaged reefs. As Dr. Gonzalez Canto began doing more research on how to build an artificial reef, he came across British sculpture Jason deCaires Taylor. At the time Jason deCaires Taylor was working on an underwater sculpture in the Canary Islands which are meant to attract plant life and sea life can grow in and feed off of. He was also a diving instructor at the time in the Caribbean, which also allowed him to see art in a different way. The Nautical Association President, Roberto Diaz Abraham, agreed to the plan for Jason deCaires Taylor to create an underwater sculpture museum. As Abraham, Canto, and Taylor met, MUSA was created and Jason deCaires was contracted to do the initial work, as well as other Mexican sculptors. After Five years of MUSA foundation, six artists have their work placed at the bottom of the ocean. At the end of 2013, a total of 500 concrete sculptures comprise the MUSA collection. In Manchones exhibit room the Museum gathers 477 elements while in Nizuc there are 23. Another 26 replicas have been located at a Visitor Center at Kukulcan Mall in the Hotel Zone. More than 100,000 visitors, out of 500,000 that visit the Government Protected Area, visited MUSA during 2013.


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The Cancun Underwater Museum is the worlds most famous underwater sculpture museum. Scuba dive in this incredible place devoted to conservation of the area. THIS ECO-PROJECT KNOWN AS MUSA BEGAN IN 2009 AND NOW HOLDS OVER 470 LIFE SIZED STATUES The idea was to create an artificial reef featuring sculptures made from marine concrete. First algae forms on the underwater statues and then the tiny polyps begin to grow. Some of the figures are now covered with algae and others have some beautiful reef formations making the facial features distorted and eerie looking. The underwater museum Cancun is one of a kind. Our 1 tank 28ft MUSA dive will take you to the main part of the Cancun museum known as the Silent Evolution. There are 450 statues here and their eye formation is as such in order to protect the statues and of course the marine life and coral from increment weather conditions. The statues were made and placed with only two things in mind – conserving our existing natural reefs of Cancun and providing new havens for fish and sea life. At the same time Cancun diving just got more interesting and this is not to be missed during your vacation. Other statues from the museum in Cancun that can be seen during this dive are Anthropocene (a life sized VW Beetle car), The Bankers, Urban Reef, Bio Map, Bacab and Timebomb. Projects : Mexico In 2009 a monumental underwater museum called MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte) was formed in the waters surrounding Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc. The project founded by Jaime Gonzalez Cano of The National Marine Park, Roberto Diaz of The Cancun Nautical Association and Jason deCaires Taylor consists of over 500 permanent life-size sculptures and is one of the largest and most ambitious underwater artificial art attractions in the world. The Museum aiming to demonstrate the interaction between art and environmental science forms a complex reef structure for marine life to colonise, inhabit and increase biomass on a grand scale. Each of the sculptures is made from specialized materials used to promote coral life, with the total installations occupying an area of over 420sq metres of barren seabed and weighing over 200 tons. The Cancun Marine Park is one of the most visited stretches of water in the world with over 750,000 visitors each year, placing immense pressure on its resources. The location of the sculptures promotes the recovery of the natural reefs at it relieves pressure on them by drawing visitors away. The Museum is divided into two galleries called Salon Manchones and Salon Nizuc. The first is eight meters deep and suitable for both divers and snorkelers and the second four meters deep and only permitted for snorkeling. Plunge into the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Ocean and discover a mesmerizing underwater museum on this 2-hour snorkeling tour from Cancun. Marvel at the entrancing exhibitions sprawled over the seabed as you swim and see tropical tableaus of marine life. See more than 400 life-size sculptures and a submerged VW Beetle as you swim above this astounding aquatic exhibition off the coast of Mexico’s Isla Mujeres.