Cancún, Mexico – In 2009, the government of Mexico launched a creative project to protect the reefs near Cancún, at the same time offering visitors a wonderfully unique underwater experience. The Museo Subacuático de Arte – better known as MUSA – is an underwater sculpture garden. The exhibit features some 500 concrete sculptures, all resting on the sea floor. They are not only artworks, but also artificial reefs, attracting algae, coral, fish and other sea creatures. Diving at this underwater sculpture garden was a highlight of my visit to Cancún. The sculptures are intriguing in their own right; even more marvelous is the way they are transformed by their surroundings, as the coral grows and the creatures take over.
I went with Solo Buceo to the exhibit near Manchones Reef. (There are actually three different exhibits; the other two – at Punta Nizuc and Punta Sam – are good for snorkeling but too shallow to dive.)
The Silent Evolution
The exhibit at Manchones is the largest, featuring works by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor. The Silent Evolution consists of 400-plus individual sculptures, many depicting human beings interacting with nature in positive and negative ways. The figures are modeled after residents of the nearby village Puerto Morelos.
Each individual sculpture tells a story. Inheritance depicts a child, saddened by a pile of trash. The Bankers are businessmen with their heads in the sand (literally), in denial of the environmental crisis. Somewhat ironically, their rear ends provide habitats for marine life. More uplifting, Reclamation is a sculpture of an underwater angel, arms lifted toward the sky, with Gorgonian sea fans for wings.
Photos courtesy of Artworks for Change
Artificial Reef
Best of all, the artworks provide tourists with the chance to snorkel and dive away from fragile corals, thus allowing the reefs to recover from decades of overuse. Made with pH-neutral marine concrete, the statues do not harm the existing wildlife. In fact they become a harbor for fish and other marine creatures.
The shallow depth at Manchones means that you can dive MUSA even if you are not a certified diver. As such, a `resort dive’ requires only a same-day one-hour training to learn the basics of scuba diving. Add this to the list of things for the twins to come back and do.