Santa Cruz Island, located just five kilometres from the Zamboanga Peninsula and the town of the same name, has long been one of the favourite holiday destination of Zamboanga residents and visitors and one of the best beaches in the Philippines. The main attraction of the island is its amazing pink sand and excellent diving opportunities. The best time to visit Santa Cruz is from mid-January to early March, when the weather is dry and warm.
Once the island was literally overflowing with tourists, but due to the military conflicts that have recently erupted in Mindanao, it has become a quiet and cosy place. To get here, you need to pre-book a pass at the Department of Tourism of Zamboanga City, as Santa Cruz is a protected area. It is also important to remember that the island does not have an abundance of cafes and restaurants, so you should bring your own food. There are no resorts or even small hotels. But all this doesn't stop those who want to see one of the wonders of nature - beaches with unique pink sand, of which there are only three in the world! The colour of the sand is the result of millions of years of mixing together over millions of years of grinding red organ coral into powder with ordinary white sand. The beaches stretch for five kilometres along the coast of the island, and next to them, in the in the tiny settlement of Bajao, there are numerous Muslim burial grounds.
Diving enthusiasts also come to Santa Cruz - there are several small picturesque coral reefs off the coast of the island, and the crystal clear waters allow you to take wonderful underwater shots. Basilan Strait, which separates Santa Cruz from the Zamboanga Peninsula, serves as a connecting channel between the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas and as a result boasts a huge number of migratory fish species. The underwater scenery here is incredibly beautiful! In the 1970s and 1980s, Santa Cruz was frequented by tourists from Germany and Italy, who called the island "a lost paradise".
You can get to the island by boat from Zamboanga - the journey will take a maximum of half an hour. The city's Department of Tourism also organises regular day tours to Santa Cruz.
