There are many incredible underwater museums in the world. In this blog I have collected the most beautiful. I think to visit one of them could be on your bucket list. To dive into an other world. Enjoy it.

1. Alley of Leaders - this is first-ever Underwater Museum. The unique Russian underwater museum is located on the cape Tarkhankut (village Olenivka) in Crimea, 100 m from the shore at a depth of 12-15 meters of the Black Sea. The unique underwater museum has a collection of includes roughly 50 moss-covered monuments to former Soviet leaders and Communist figures of different times. 

 

 

2. The Coralarium in the Maldives exhibits a series of sculptural artworks. It is situated in the clear shallow waters of the largest lagoon in the Shaviyani Atoll on the island of Sirru Fen Fushi in the depth of 3-5 meters. The work is a semi-submerged tidal gallery that exhibits a series of sculptural artworks on the skyline, on the inter-tidal waterline and in the seabed. At first glance, the glistening metallic structure appears as a mirage on a horizon. Located in a remote turquoise Maldivian lagoon, figures come into view on a shining cube, taking in their Indian Ocean surroundings from their elevated vantage point. On closer inspection, the figures reveal themselves as a series of sculptures, encrusted with the coral of the lagoon. Viewed from the water, thirty hybrid forms, part-human, part-plant, part-coral, symbolize the dependence of humans on the natural environment. Moulds of endemic banyan trees, screw pines and corals are integrated with casts of local people to demonstrate our connectedness. Viewed from the shore, the stainless steel cube reflects all the light from the horizon and brings together the sky and the sea in one art installation.

 

3. M.U.S.A - Museo Subacuático de Arte is in the waters surrounding Cancun and Isla Mujeres, Mexico. This one is the world's largest underwater museum. It has over 500 life-size sculptures used to promote coral life at a depth of 4-8 meters.

 

 

4. British artist Jason deCaires Taylor - has created over 1000 underwater sculptures across the world - in 2021 has launched a new project in the Mediterranean Sea: the Underwater Museum of Cannes, a series of sculptures off the nearby island of Sainte-Marguerite at a depth of 3-4 meters, about half a mile off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes, France. It features a series of six monumental, three-dimensional portraits, each over two meters in height and ten tons in weight. 

 

 

5. Parthenon of Shipwrecks, Greece Set at a depth of approximately 15 meters, it focuses on the story of a fifth-century BC Athenian merchant vessel that sank carrying a massive cargo of wine. The ancient shipwreck of Peristera, off the Greek island of Alonissos, where over 4,000 amphorae are scattered.

 

6. MOUA, the Museum of Underwater Art Australia, located near the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, it contains 20 reef garden sculptures that are fully or partially submerged such as the Ocean Siren designed to change color with the temperature of the water. Visiting this site involves dives of up to 18 meters deep.

 

7. Bask Gili Meno Indonesia, where you can see 48 life-size couples on the seafloor, at a depth of around 4 meters. The installation is between Bali and Lombok. In the hauntingly beautiful work, embracing couples encircle yet more figures curled up on the seafloor. The circular formation evokes time and continuum. The interlocking pieces connect to provide a platform for marine life to colonize and inhabit. 

 

8. Baia Underwater Park, Italy. In the Gulf of Naples there is an ancient Roman town located at a depth of 13 meters underwater. Five sites can be dived comprising Emperor Claudius’ Nymphaeum, Portus Julius, Pisoni’s Villa, Smoky Reef and the Villa a Protiro with its spectacular mosaic floor. 

 

9. Museo Altantico Las Coloradas, Lanzarote, Spain. Located 14 meters deep are 300 sculptures designed by Jason deCaires Taylor in shallow waters just off the Playa Blanca. The monumental project took over three years to plan and construct and includes over 300 life-size casts placed on an area of previously barren seabed of 50m x 50m. Most spectacular is the Raft of the Lampedusa, relating to the arrival of refugees on the island. 

 

10. Ocean Atlas - Sir Nicholas Nuttall Coral Reef Sculpture Garden, Nassau, Bahamas. Five meters down, Ocean Atlas is the largest single sculpture ever placed underwater. Weighing over 60 tons, the artwork depicts a local Bahamian girl carrying the weight of the ocean above her in reference to the Ancient Greek myth of Atlas, the Titan who held up the heavens. Also on site is an artificial reef trail and sculptures by local artists Willicey Tynes and Andret John.

 

11. The Musician is a stand alone sculpture located at Musha Cay, Exumas (137 km southeast of Nassau) Bahamas, that includes a full-scale mermaid and Steinway concert grand piano replica designed by Jason deCaires Taylor. It is hidden at a depth of 4 meters underwater for snorkelers to discover near a private island owned by the illusionist David Copperfield. The piano plays soft classical music, similar to the sound of a whale or dolphin, as divers approach, and was constructed using 316 stainless steel. The mermaid, waiting to play.

 

12. MUSAN - Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa, Cyprus. This is an underwater forest at a depth of 8-10 meters, the first of its kind in the world. Consisting of over 93 artworks some of which are in the form of trees, others which are figurative in nature. Among the sculpted trees children can be seen playing. They remind us of our need for the natural world as a place to explore, discover and fire our imaginations. 

 

13. Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park in Molinere Beauséjour Marine Protected Area, Grenada was the first of Jason deCaires Taylor’s underwater gardens. It was widely acclaimed as the first of its kind. The site is now listed as one of National Geographic’s 25 Wonders of the World. The 75 works cover an area of 800 square meters and are located in a series of sand patches and gullies between natural rock formations. At depths of 5-8 meters, they are accessible by scuba diving, snorkeling and glass bottom boats, with departures from the capital St. Georges and from Grand Anse, both a short boat ride away.

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