After making sure that there’s a boat that would take us to Sta. Cruz Island, we went straight to the tourism office in Paseo del Mar to arrange for our security escort. It is required if you want to tour the island. Let’s just say that due to numerous kidnapping incidents in Zamboanga and other nearby areas, security has to be really tight.
It’s a short 20-minute trip to Sta. Cruz Island but it’s interesting to see 2 helicopters hovering in the area. Familiar with the Balikatan exercises? It so happens that the smaller Sta. Cruz Island is the military installation and site for the military exercises between American and Filipino forces. And that explains why the smaller island is off-limits. Sayang, considering that the area is known to be a very good snorkeling site.
The pink sand is really noticeable upon our arrival in the greater Sta. Cruz Island. We looked closely and the pinkness is due to the mixture of pulverized red coral and white sand (or another pulverized white coral?). The rare bright red organ-pipe coral (Tubipora Musica) is responsible for the coloration effect that earned the island its moniker, the Pink Beach.
But other than the pinkness of the sand, I can’t find any other nice thing to say about the beach. Because for one, it’s not ideal for swimming especially for kids because the sea bed suddenly drops to a depth that I don’t even want to know. The heavily damaged coral reefs that’s to blame for the very few fishies that we saw upon snorkeling. And the critters…like sea insects, (oh they’re nasty!) that kept on feasting on our bodies while we’re submerged in water.
Being included in the list of the few pink sand beaches in the world, I think the Zamboanga City government should do something (or maybe a lot) to give life back to Sta. Cruz Island. The preservation of the coral reefs and the assurance of tourist security will definitely beef up tourism in this once famous tourist destination. I’m just pessimistic about the preservation part because as I’ve seen it, there are no more to corals preserve. Sigh!
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| Our dependable escort |
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| See the chopper that's about to land in the smaller Sta. Cruz Island? |
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| You can't have just one helicopter scouring the area, right? |
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| Look closely... |
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| The red pipe coral that makes the sand pinkish |
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| The snorklers...were disappointed :-( |
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| See the lone fish? And the sudden drop considering that it's just a few meters away from shore |
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| Sellers of pearl and coral accessories... |
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| Cottages by the beach |
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