CANCUN’S UNDERWATER MUSEUM

Cancun’s Underwater Museum is an amazing ecological project that is a continuous effort to recuperate and enhance the reef areas surrounding Cancun and Isla Mujeres. Three people got together in a bid to help this natural habitat. Over the years, hurricanes and human kind have caused damage to the great reefs in the area, so it was time to step in and help these beautiful gardens replenish and flourish once more. It’s now been 3 years since the Cancun Underwater Museum project first placed the initial figures on the seabed of Cancun’s waters. British artist Jason DeCaires Taylor is the main creator and artist of this amazing site and more information about his works can be found here.

Dr. Jaime Gonzalez Cano is the director of the National Park Costa Occidental Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun and Punta Nizuc. He searched the internet for ideas and came across the work of Jason DeCaires Taylor, a British underwater artist. The first seed of an underwater sculpture project for Cancun was planted. The next step was to contact Roberto Diaz, president of the Nautical Association – as a ceramic artist and sculptor, he loved the idea.

Jason left his life in London and dedicated 2 long years in the creation of 403 life sized concrete sculptures. The sculptures are made from neutral clay and positioned on the ocean beds in order to promote marine life and the growth of coral reef.

There are now over 460 of Jason’s sculptures, plus other single sculptures by local artists, submerged in Cancun’s water and they are located in two areas. The first location is close to Manchones Reef area between the coasts of Isla Mujeres and Cancun. On the sand banks beside this reef you can see the Dream Collector, Man on Fire, The Banker, Anthropocene, Biomap, Tortuga and, of course, The Silent Evolution. The sculptures are placed at a depth of between six and nine meters.