Playa Blanca, Canary Islands, Spain

Museo Atlantico

Museo Atlantico, opened in 2017 off the coast of Playa Blanca on southern Lanzarote, is the first underwater contemporary art museum in Europe and the only one in the Atlantic. Designed by British artist Jason deCaires Taylor, it consists of about 300 life-size cast cement sculptures arranged on a flat sand seafloor at 12 to 14 metres. Installations include the Raft of Lampedusa, the circular Crossing the Rubicon wall, the Photographers, and an entire selfie-taking crowd that comments on contemporary society. Because the sculptures use a pH neutral marine cement they have rapidly become artificial reef, attracting hairy blennies, ornate wrasse, octopus, butterfly rays and the resident angel shark. Visibility is consistently 20 to 25 metres thanks to clean Atlantic water, and the dive is shallow, current-free and protected, making it appropriate for beginners as well as experienced photographers. The museum is part of a marine conservation project and diving is regulated by access permits.