Museo Atlántico

Submerged in the Atlantic waters near Playa Blanca, Museo Atlántico features over 300 life-sized figurative sculptures arranged across the seabed, designed to attract marine life and serve as an artificial reef, viewable by diving, snorkeling, or glass-bottom boat.

Planning your visit

Museo Atlántico off Playa Blanca was Europe's first underwater sculpture museum, created by Jason deCaires Taylor and opened in 2016 in the waters of Lanzarote's marine reserve. Over 300 figures stand across the seabed at around twelve to fifteen metres.

The work is politically direct in a way underwater sculpture usually is not. The Raft of Lampedusa reproduces Géricault's painting with migrants in an inflatable boat, addressing the Mediterranean crossings. The Rubicon shows a procession of figures walking toward a wall, phones in hand, ignoring it. Others cast local Lanzarote residents.

The concrete is pH-neutral and textured to encourage colonisation, and the site functions as an artificial reef within a protected zone, drawing diving pressure away from natural habitat.

The depth means this is a diving site rather than a snorkelling one, though introductory dives for beginners run with instructors.

Lanzarote's volcanic landscape and César Manrique's architecture make the island unusual above water too.

Bookable options include first-time dives and try-scuba formats for uncertified visitors. Current departures are listed below.