I am an unashamed holiday diver. If the water is cold enough that I have to wear rubber then I don’t want to go diving. Consequentially I have never dived in the UK. But I have dived in Egypt, Mexico, Tenerife and Thailand. If you are a holiday diver then you have the pick of the world’s dive destinations and you can plan your holidays around which species you want to swim with. The problem with targeting exotic wildlife though is that they have a tendency of not showing up when you want them to. You fly half way round the world in the hope of diving with Whale Sharks or Manta Rays and you end up going home with pictures of puffers and Barracuda. The great thing about setting out to dive iconic wrecks and other features is that you can be absolutely sure they will be there.
Cancun Underwater Museum, more accurately known as MUSA Museo Subacuático de Arte, was built to relieve some of the diving pressure on Cancun’s reefs. It was a collaboration between Marine Park Director Jaime Gonzalez Canto and sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor. By the time it was completed in 2013 there were 500 sculptures from six different artists. They are arranged in three different galleries that range in depth between 3 and 6 meters. Very undemanding as dives and totally accessible for snorkelers and viewing via a glass bottomed boat.
I had a great experience diving MUSA. It got off to a bit of a bad start with my dives getting canceled due to bad weather keeping the dive boats in. But when things finally cleared up and we could get out it was a couple of the best dives I have done. As I said, not demanding at all. Just a gentle, shallow cruise along admiring the fantastic cast concrete statues in their very odd environment. They had quickly formed an artificial reef and as the coral, seaweed and algae took hold, the fish moved in too.
If you are in Cancun then you should certainly check MUSA. Even if you are not a qualified diver you can explore the museum by snorkeling or by doing it as a trial dive.
Barry Mattacott - The Blog Posts 