Cancun Diving is a must if you are a certified diver and you in the area since they have more than 30 dive sites in what they call the Cancun National Marine Park. The Cancun reefs often have schools of snappers, barracudas, angelfish, and many other species living in an amazing ecosystem. One of my favorite things to do when I am in Cancun is to dive into Cancun’s Underwater Museum or to dive into the Cancun Cenotes. There is no doubt that scuba diving in Cancun is a lot of fun, so… let me tell you about one of my favorite beginner dives in Cancun:

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✦ Cancun’s Underwater Museum

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Scuba Dive in Cancun

My scuba dive instructor is of Mayan Indian descent and I am following him, although I know not where. He is the expert and I am his inept follower, scuba diving in Cancun. Soon we approach what appears to be a fire ring, but it is not ablaze.  He enters first and motions for each of us to go through the ring.  I follow, being sure to keep myself tight through the middle, as often I have heard of fire coral attached to metal underwater and I do not want to get stung!

✦ Cancun’s Underwater Museum

A little ways further while scuba diving in Cancun we see an old abandoned house with a red brick chimney. Suddenly I see smoke puffing out of its smokestack. It was from the master diver, as he pauses, removes his regulator from his mouth, and then makes the smoke puff out of the chimney by way of his air from his tank. Cool divemaster trick! I am amused and realize that even though he has fun, I can see how skilled he is at his job and how safety while scuba diving in Cancun’s underwter musuem is a concern for him, which I appreciate.

✦ Crazy Things Down Here

There is even a full-sized Volkswagen bug (vehicle) down here (actually two) that was designed especially to be a lobster home!  Next time I go scuba diving in Cancun, I am getting a go pro, so I can put a red filter on it and put that stick inside of the window to the bug, that way I can spot those lobsters!

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Recommended reading:

Diving Mexico’s Kukulkan, a Cancun Cenote Experience

Fiji: Diving at Castaway Island

Spain Diving

Scuba Diving in French Polynesia

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✦ Scuba Diving with Poseidon

We linger on and I stare in awe as he takes us around to show us what we are really there to see. As I approach, I see what appears to be an old man staring up at the sun, arching his neck in such a way that I thought he was reaching for the Greek God Poseidon, crying out to be saved from his life here on earth. The way his eyes stare upwards to the Heavens gives me a shivering chill up my spine, as I am mesmerized by his lingering face. Locals say they know who he is and that there are many more like him. You can see many things while scuba diving in Cancun’s underwater museum!

✦ The People of Isla Mujeres

I have been to this country many times before, actually hundreds of times, but I have never seen anything like this. I am an avid scuba diver, with over 150 dives, but this is a special event, even for me. Soon I see the rest of them with algae growing through their nostrils and starfish buried in their eyeballs, or coral growing out of their necks, it is quite a sight to see.  It is eerie to stare at each one of them and to try to grasp the depths of who they are and how they got here.

They are the people of Isla Mujeres and the Cancun region of Mexico: doctors, lawyers, bread makers, couch surfers, goddesses, business owners, hotel workers, men burying their heads in the sand.  Young, old, fat, short, glasses, watches, coats, masks, you name it, it is all down here. Isla Mujeres is a little Mexican island in the Caribbean Sea right off the coast from Cancún. It is a vacation destination known for its amazing beaches and for snorkeling and scuba diving.

✦ Scuba Diving Art: Sculptor Jason Taylor

After a bit of research, I find that the sculptures are the imagination and work of Artist Jason Taylor, who painstakingly sculpted a collection of up to 500 statues that are submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico. The idea behind the project is brilliant!

With over 750,000 visitors each year, Cancun had immense pressure on its local reef, including the famous Manchones Reef. If the sculptures could lure the divers/water enthusiasts away from the reef then they help create a new reef at the same time. This could possibly save the reef from dying and help regenerate the reef, plus start a new one!

It was constructed to be assimilated by the ocean and transformed from inert objects into living, breathing coral reefs.  All the sculptures will change over time as the marine life creates homes here. I have seen a similar project like this before in Aqaba, Jordan, but here they did it by sinking a ship. With Jason Taylor being a master diver himself, he had seen the reef deteriorate and wanted to help save the local reef by creating a new, interesting destination for snorkelers and divers!

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✦ Forbes Travel Magazine has described MUSA as “one of the world’s most unique travel destinations.”

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✦ Scuba Diving Cancun’s MUSA is Quite Unique!

With over 150 scuba dives, I have never seen anything like this before, as it is quite unique, although Taylor has created one in Grenada as well. With a boatload of Cancun scuba divers, there were 11 travel writers/divers on my trip and when asked if we wanted to see the reef or the sculpture garden, 10 of us wanted to see the sculptures! A fellow diver even quipped that “there are reefs everywhere in the world” but all of us wanted to see the sculptures!

By putting his sculptures in shallow and barren areas, Taylor not only replicates the conditions necessary to stimulate coral growth but ensures that divers and snorkelers will take the time to go out and see them. The area where we went was specifically for divers and the sculptures are at around 30 feet in-depth, but there are other sites that snorkelers can access at 10-12 feet, as well.  

The simplest way to visit the museum though is through local tour boat operators. The outfitter I went with was Aquaworld. Over time these sculptures will change due to the natural progression of the life they proliferate and so they won’t look like the photographs I have taken here. Bookmark my site and come back after you have gone to see the difference!

✦ Scuba Diving Cancun: Cancun Underwater Museum (MUSA)

Where is it? The sculpture garden is located in the waters between Cancun and Isla Mujeres in Mexico in the Yucatan area, obviously, access via Cancun Airport.

What will it cost? Prices for divers range between $45 and $65 USD for one-tank dives.

When to go? Cancun is warm and sunny year-round, with water temperatures ranging from 78 to 80 degrees in the winter and 82 to 84 degrees in the summer.

How can I learn more about the exhibit? Visit Cancun’s CVB website.

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Recommended Reading about Scuba Diving

Galapagos Scuba Diving at its Finest Hour!

Scuba Diving the Red Sea: Aqaba, Jordan العقبة‎

Diving Belize: Ambergris Caye

Belize: Life in the Underworld

 

Disclosure: As is common in the travel industry, I was provided with accommodations, meals, and other compensation for the purposes of review by AquaWorld. While it has not influenced my review, PointsandTravel.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. All Photos were taken by the author/or were given permission from the photographer. Affiliate links may be located in this article.