MUSA – Manchones Gallery

MUSA, the Museo Subacuático de Arte, lies off Isla Mujeres in Quintana Roo, on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Manchones Gallery is one of its sites, set over a reef bottom at a maximum depth of around 9 metres. It is an underwater sculpture museum made up of cement figures placed on the seabed, created by Jason deCaires Taylor and other artists, with the aim of drawing divers and snorkelers away from nearby natural reefs to ease pressure on them. Over time the figures here have become colonized by algae and coral growth, changing their appearance from when they were first installed. The shallow depth makes this a beginner dive, typically reached by boat from Cancun, Isla Mujeres, or Puerto Morelos. Divers have also reported angelfish, moray eels, parrotfish, sea turtles, and snapper moving through the gallery alongside the sculptures.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Sea turtleSea turtleReported here · unconfirmed
• Moray eelMoray eelReported here · unconfirmed
• Atlantic Sergeant MajorAbudefduf saxatilisReported here · unconfirmed
• Bluestriped GruntHaemulon sciurusReported here · unconfirmed
• Caribbean Bluehead WrasseThalassoma bifasciatumReported here · unconfirmed
• French GruntHaemulon flavolineatumReported here · unconfirmed
• Slippery DickHalichoeres bivittatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Caribbean Spiny LobsterPanulirus argusReported here · unconfirmed
• ParrotfishParrotfishReported here · unconfirmed
• AngelfishAngelfishReported here · unconfirmed
• SnapperSnapperReported here · unconfirmed