Cancún is all about sun, sand, and endlessly flowing free drinks — but there’s also a lesser-known cultural side to this Yucatán paradise. From Mexican folk art to ancient Maya treasures, to a ground-breaking underwater sculpture park, the city’s burgeoning arts scene is diverse enough to suit every taste. Take a break from the beach and get your culture fix at these four sites in Cancún.
As always, check for travel guidelines and closures before planning your trip.
Museo Maya de Cancún
Don’t have time to visit Chichén Itzá or Tulum? The Maya Museum, located in the heart of the Cancún hotel zone, brings together hundreds of important artifacts gathered from Maya sites across the Yucatán Peninsula.
Inside a modern, all-white building that was designed by Mexican architect Alberto García Lascurain and opened in 2012, you can view ancient architectural fragments, as well as sculpture, jewelry, masks, tools, and ceramics. Among the most celebrated items are the approximately 12,000-year-old skeletal remains of La Mujer de las Palmas (“The Woman of the Palms”), recently discovered in Tulum’s underwater caves.
The museum’s grounds are also home to the San Miguelito archaeological site, an excavated Maya settlement that dates from 1250 to 1550 A.D. Along its winding, tree-covered paths you can see the remains of temples and shrines that culminate in an impressive 26-foot-high pyramid.
Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA)
Most museums don’t require snorkeling or scuba gear to see the art, but then again, most museums aren’t set on the ocean floor. The underwater art gallery MUSA, off the coast of nearby Isla Mujeres, features more than 500 life-sized sculptures — of people, cars, houses, and animals — submerged 13 to 28 feet below the ocean’s surface. Most were created by sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, who crafted them with special materials that encourage the growth of coral and the breeding of marine life.
If you aren’t much of a diver, don’t worry — you can still catch a glimpse of some of the sculptures if you visit aboard a glass-bottomed boat.
Mexican Folk Art Museum
Yes, you’ll need to head out of town to the eco-theme park of Xcaret, about an hour’s drive from Cancún, to see the Mexican Folk Art Museum — but it’s worth it. Brimming with an outstanding variety of artisan crafts from across Mexico, the museum is tucked inside a reproduction of a 19th-century hacienda, complete with a colonial-era kitchen lined with beautifully painted Talavera pottery.
Handicrafts from the different states of Mexico decorate the rooms, with some of the most impressive pieces being a series of intricate Tree of Life ceramic sculptures, masks, crucifixes, Lady of Guadalupe figurines, and, of course, Day of the Dead dolls. Naturally, you will exit through the gift shop, where you can pick up all kinds of souvenirs.
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