Sta. Cruz Island in Zamboanga is getting more popular in recent years due to its unusual pink beach. The pink beach is a result of degraded red organ pipe coral naturally mixed with the island’s white sand for thousands of years. It has also been featured as one of the 21 Best Beaches in the World by National Geographic in 2017.
Although Sta. Cruz Island is getting some attention online, the number of visitors remains manageable. It’s not at all crowdy. The island remains serene and relaxing. The main factor for the slow increase of tourists is probably security reasons. Mindanao, especially Zamboanga, has a distinct negative image in the media. To ease your worries, policemen and the coast guard are always stationed in the island.
