The Great Santa Cruz Island is located off Zamboanga City and can be reached by riding a motorized bangka (canoe with double outriggers) also known as pump boats commonly used for inter-island travel in the Philippines.
When I was assigned for about 5 days at Zamboanga City back in December 2015, the people from our office branch there took us on a trip to Santa Cruz Island. We are in 2 batches of travelers to the island. We were instructed by our friends in our branch to go there early morning between 6:00 - 7:00 AM for the motorized bangkas would ferry us early so that we could enjoy more time at the island. Any visitor to the island could only stay there up to 12:00 - 1:00 PM.
According to bangka drivers, all bangkas should be going back by 1:00 PM due to strong sea current in the channel between Zamboanga and Santa Cruz island in the afternoon.
All trips to the island should be arranged and for everybody's safety, all travelers per bangka should have a security escort either from the police or military.
Below is a video of our group in the motorized bangka.
Two bangkas ferried our group to the island.
The bangkas and its navigators stayed with us in the island because they are also the ones to ferry us back, since there would be no other bangka that would go there that did not ferry anyone to the island.
During our stay there, we ate the food that we brought there composed of rice, delicious fish delicacies bought from Zamboanga City.
Some people living in the island are selling bracelets and other bodily adornments that are made of native materials found in the island, mostly colorful stones and pearls.
While looking at the items being sold by the island inhabitants, they are really trying their best to convince you to buy for the only chance they got that their goods be sold is when visitors visit their island which is not an everyday affair.
It is best if you allocate your money to different sellers and not buy all from a single seller so that the people there all have some income from buying visitors.
The sands of the island they say looks pink from a distance. The reason is that it is mixed with pulverized particles of red corals. Maybe some corals are pulverized by the strong current from the sea.
I did not swim on the beach as what my companions did. I just strolled around the beach and found that indeed the sand has some pinkish particles in it. I was also lucky to have noticed a very small crab trying to camouflage itself from me since its color is almost the same as its surrounding sand. But it was not successful in hiding its presence from me. Nevertheless, the humble life form has nothing to fear from me, I just let him be. Find the crab in the picture below and see the pink particles in the sand.
Of course, I did not only took pictures of the sand with a crab in it, I also took a picture of myself, of course, my shadow actually.
I bet I got you there excited, that is the shadow of a great guy (just like Great Santa Cruz island). Don't worry if its just my shadow for now, later I would be revealing myself, if not in this blog post, maybe in the next. It all depends on the performance of this post. So upvoting this post is not bad.
The next thing great about the island is it has lots of cottages that you can use for your group lunch or snack. Staying in the cottages are great, you get to feel the breeze coming from the sea which has a different scent that could not be explained. You've got to experience it yourself.
The trees are really refreshing and provides wonderful feeling if you are under them.
We even got to experience a fly-by by an MG-Defender helicopter from the Philippine Air Force. Luckily for me, my iPhone Camera got it even if it happened so fast. Would have been better though if a video of it was taken.
The air force chopper was obviously on a patrol and its flying over the island and a nearby smaller island called "Little Santa Cruz Island".
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Let me thank you for reading this far!
So far I have shown you lots of pictures, but I have not yet shown you how the beach looks, here it is now.
And with a view of Zamboanga City on the other side of the sea. Don't go to far into the sea if you want to dip, the dark part is deep.
Our group was not the only people that did go into the island that morning till noon. Other groups came in late at about 9:00, thus by 9:30 there were lots of visitors in the island, up to when the sun is really up above.
By 12:30 PM we took more pictures before we start our preparations to leave the island. A fisherman even tried to sell to us a big fish for only P150.00 (US $3.00).
And since, you have gone this far, I would like to show myself, wearing my slippers.
It was actually a surreal feeling leaving the island, you miss it immediately. You fell in love with the place by just your few hours of stay. For you know that when you go back to the city, the beauty of the sea and of nature in the island would not be present anymore.
I will miss you Great Santa Cruz Island.
I admired your beauty! And let it be known, that we took all our garbage back with us, cleaned the cottages we used and left only our footprints, so that other visitors would enjoy your beauty in the same way we found it.
Our footprints would be erased by the air or washed away by the waves within a short while, so other tourists that would visit you, could create their own, even for just a short time.
Bye bye Great Santa Cruz Island and thank you to its people who welcomed us when we came!
