Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), Mexico

The Museo Subacuatioco De Arte (MUSA) is an underwater contemporary art museum that hosts more than 500 permanent monumental sculpted figures based on real people. These statues are gathered 10 meters below the sea’s surface in the waters surrounding Cancun, Isa Mujeres, and Punta Nizuc.

Jaime González Cano, Director of the National Marine Park, Roberto Daz Abraham, President of the Cancun Nautical Association, and English sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor founded the museum in 2009.

The exhibition aims to promote coral life by demonstrating the relationship between science and art. On one side, the sculptures form a museum; on the other, they form a reef structure that attracts marine life and promotes coral growth. All of the sculptures are tied to the seafloor and are composed of specific materials.

The underwater museum can be visited on different modalities: through glass-bottomed boats, by snorkeling, or diving. Excursions and tours are organized both during the day or during the night. The MUSA attracts every year more than 750, 000 drivers.

Museo Atlántico Lanzarote, Spain

The Museo Atlántico, which opened in 2016, was inspired by the MUSA in Mexico. It is Europe's first underwater modern art museum, with around 300 distinct sculptures spread across 2,500 square meters. The statues were created by British artist Jason de Caires Taylor and are located 12 meters below sea level in the waters near Lanzarote's south shore, in the Baha de Las Coloradas.

The exhibition's purpose is to raise awareness about environmental and climate change issues while also creating a marine habitat for the Canary Islands. The museum is accessible with the assistance of dive instructors. Everyone can have the opportunity to visit this wonderful underwater museum, from professional divers to beginners without a diving license.

Herod’s Harbor, Israel

The Museo Atlántico, which opened in 2016, was inspired by the MUSA in Mexico. It is Europe's first underwater modern art museum, with around 300 distinct sculptures spread across 2,500 square meters. The statues were created by British artist Jason de Caires Taylor and are located 12 meters below sea level in the waters near Lanzarote's south shore, in the Baha de Las Coloradas.

The exhibition's purpose is to raise awareness about environmental and climate change issues while also creating a marine habitat for the Canary Islands. The museum is accessible with the assistance of dive instructors.

One trail is accessible to professional snorkelers, while the remaining three trails are all designed for beginning divers. Visitors are also given a water-proof map.

Baia Underwater Park, Italy

The Baia Underwater Park is located near Pozzuoli, just a few kilometers north of Naples.
The ruins of what was once an attractive and fashionable beach resort for wealthy Romans are housed in the museum... Even Emperor Caligula used to visit! The city was abandoned in the eighth century and afterward sunk beneath the sea. Amazing marble statues and mosaic flooring may still be seen and touched today. Baia's underwater archaeological park has five major scuba diving sites: "Portus Julius," "Secca delle famous," "Ninfeo di Claudio," "Villa dei Pisoni," and "Villa a Protiro."

“Ninfeo di Claudio” is without a doubt the best website. There, visitors can observe a 200-meter paved path, steam bath foundations, and the nymphaeum's exquisite statues.
“Villa a Protiro” is also worth a visit! It's an antique Roman home with a courtyard that features a vast black and white geometrical mosaic floor. The original mosaic is still submerged and well maintained.
Visitors can organize a glass-bottomed boat cruise to observe the remains. There are also snorkeling trips and SCUBA diving adventures with local instructors.

However, the statues are all copies as the original ones are protected in the archaeological museum of the Castle of Baia, located above the dive site.

The Baiheliang Underwater Museum, China

The Baiheliang (meaning "White Crane Ridge") is an archaeological site in Fuling, China, that was first opened in May 2009. The museum is submerged under 43 meters of water from the Yangtze River's Three Gorges Dam.

The Baiheliang Museum houses some of the world's earliest hydrological inscriptions. The natural stone ridge is 1,600 meters long and 15 meters wide on average. It documents variations in the Yangtze River's water level over 1,200 years, as well as positions and titles from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) onward. Poems in the calligraphic script, three Bodhisattva carvings, 18 fishes, and a crane are among the carvings on the stone.

The rock ridge was submerged in summer and autumn prior to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. When the Yangtze's water level dropped in winter every 3/5 years, the ridge and its engravings were visible.

This is the only museum on this list that can be visited by non-divers. There are two underwater passages with extremely long escalators that allow guests to descend and view the lit inscriptions through double-glass protective windows.

More interesting underwater museums are HERE.