Home LifestyleArt and Culture Underwater Museum shows Cancún is not only about springbreakers and tequila shots

Underwater Museum shows Cancún is not only about springbreakers and tequila shots

by Yucatan Times
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Cancun Underwater Museum of Art, a breathtaking adventure

The coral reef sites in Cancun have received a huge influx of visitors over the years and this has taken its toll on the natural areas and ecosystems.

The Cancun underwater museum  is  a unique way to draw people away from the reefs and create an artificial one where coral can grow and marine life can breed.

All of the sculptures are fixed to the seabed and made from specialized materials used to promote coral life. The total installations occupy an area of over 420sq meters of barren substrate and weighing in at over 200 tons.

Last year, the Cancun Underwater Museum of Art added new statues to its trove of more than 500 pieces below sea level in the coastal waters around the Mexican resort town.

The impressive displays have made this a popular tourist draw in a southeast Mexico city that is already one of the most-visited spots in the country.

The museum‘s resident artist Elier Amado Gil produced several of the pieces. His work, titled “El Entendimiento” (“Understanding”), displays thoughtful figures seated in a circle around a rock meant to symbolize Cancun.

Gil’s work and “Diego,” by Roberto Diaz Abraham, an homage to his grandson and the innocence of childhood, were sunk at the museum on August 29th, 2015.

Nine other statues were added later during the months of September and October.

The museum was  founded in 2009 and draws divers and snorkelers. The idea was to submerge works by local artists to create a place for divers to visit that would keep them away from more fragile coral reefs in the area.

Each piece is created with materials safe for marine life and eventually may create a coral reef of its own.

Other artworks sunk last year include “Zoe,” a 15-by-9-by-6-foot piece of curved steel inspired by the shape of a DNA double helix.

Zoe, minutes before it was sunk (Photo: livingseasculpture.com)

Zoe, minutes before it was sunk (Photo: livingseasculpture.com)

Snorkeling at the Cancun Underwater Museum is an adventure that will leave you breathless!

You can swim in these world-reknowned waters and explore over 500 statues and the life they’ve bred along the coral reefs that have formed this artistic reef that balances art and nature in the most elegant and visually attractive way (and you don’t need to be a certified or expert scuba diver).

In 2013, the museum added an above-ground visitor center that includes replicas of the works on the ocean floor, for those who are not fonde of venturing underneath the waves.

MUSA-02

Enjoy snorkeling in the Cancun Underwater Museum (MUSA) and watching over 470 underwater statues (Photo: aquaworld.com.mx)

The “Snorkel in the Museum” tour offers a unique snorkeling excursion to visit the underwater statues located beside Manchones reef area. Manchones is located between the coast of Cancun and Isla Mujeres and is now home to 455 statues.

This 3 hour tour provides you with a 45 minute snorkel experience in the museum where you will also see the schools of fish, turtles, rays etc etc. After this, subject to timing and weather conditions, snorkelers will stop off at a second site which is full of marine life.

MUSA-03

Cancun Underwater Museum of Art, a breathtaking adventure

El Farito is also a famous snorkel area just off the coast of Isla Mujeres where you will enjoy a 20 minute visit; the perfect way to round off your MUSA experience.

 

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