Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA)

Created by sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, MUSA consists of over 500 permanent life-sized sculptures submerged in the waters around Cancún and Isla Mujeres. The sculptures double as artificial reefs, encouraging coral growth while visitors explore them by snorkeling, diving, or glass-bottom boat.

Planning your visit

MUSA is a museum you swim through. Jason deCaires Taylor and collaborating sculptors placed over 500 life-sized concrete figures on the sea floor between Cancún and Isla Mujeres, in shallow water off Manchones Reef and Punta Nizuc. The works are cast from real people — a crowd standing on the seabed, a man at a desk, a house — and made from pH-neutral marine cement designed to encourage coral polyps to settle. Over the years they have been colonised: coral, sponge and algae are steadily reclaiming the faces, which is the intended lifespan of the work rather than damage to it.

The conservation purpose is practical. The installation gives divers and snorkellers a reason to visit an artificial site rather than adding pressure to the fragile natural reefs of the Mesoamerican system nearby.

Access is entirely by boat and by getting wet. Bookable options include snorkelling trips over the shallower Punta Nizuc figures, which suit non-divers and children, and scuba dives to the deeper Manchones installation where the main crowd of sculptures stands. Beginner scuba formats include instruction for those without certification. Many trips combine the museum with reef snorkelling proper. Visibility and sea conditions govern everything, so flexible dates help. Current departures are shown below.