During my childhood years, summer wasn’t complete without a trip to the beach with my parents, two younger brothers, and other relatives. Since the beaches were just 15 minutes from our house, there was no excuse for us not to go.

At the beach, my greatest fascination was the blurry bluish-purple shapes looming at the horizon. I often wondered if those were actually Basilan or Sulu or even Indonesia! When I asked my parents about it, however, they told me that those were the Sta. Cruz Islands, islands that were popular for its rare pink sand. Being a child, the idea of pink sand was infinitely exciting and quite unimaginable for me since all the beaches near the city proper had black or gray sand.

Since then, the Sta. Cruz Islands became a mystery that was just begging to be solved. I made up stories about the islands in my head. I imagined it to be something out of The Little Mermaid, with a castle near the shore and a variety of colorful, talking fishes in the sea surrounding it. 

I never had the opportunity to visit these islands though until my senior year in high school. My class organized an outing in the islands to celebrate the feast day of our class saint. Fortunately, our class moderator had connections with the military so we were escorted to the Little Sta. Cruz Island, which is in fact a military installation, for free. Otherwise, one would have to book a trip to the islands with the local Department of Tourism Office (see side note for more details). 

The Little Sta. Cruz Island is only a few meters away from the Great Sta. Cruz Island, which is more popularly visited by tourists. There, I found neither castle nor talking fishes but my parents were right, the island had pink sand! I learned later on that this was a result of centuries of crushing and pulverizing of dead Red Organ-Pipe corals, which were found in the surrounding waters. The pink bits of corals mixed with fine with sand glittered under the bright sun. It was quite magical, really. 

In addition to that, the sea was literally star-spangled as starfishes were scattered throughout the clear shallow waters, These called for a little care and caution when bathing (to avoid accidentally squishing a starfish underfoot), but it was quite enjoyable to swim with the stars. 

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how one looks at it, there were no business establishments in the area so we had to pack our own food and drinks and limit our stay to a day. However, I heard that there are grilling facilities and cottages for rent at the Great Sta. Cruz Island. Cottage rental fees range from Php100 to Php200.

My classmates and I had a great time basking under the sun, playing at the shores, and dipping ourselves in the sea when it got too warm. Because we had the island to ourselves (excepting our military escorts), we were really able to relax and forget that the rest of the world existed. This, I think, is an advantage of going to an island whose shores have yet to be trampled upon by throngs of tourists.

Thus, for those who think that Boracay is overrated and would like to have a magical, I’m-the-king-of-the-world experience, I’d highly recommend the Sta. Cruz Islands. Just make sure though that once you’re there, you give its beauty the respect it deserves (Read: No Littering and Illegal Coral Mining). 

Sidenote:

Since the Islands are protected areas, booking can only go through the local Department of Tourism Office located at Lantaka Hotel by the Sea, Valderosa Street, Zamboanga City. Telephone numbers: (062) 9926242 and (062) 9910218. 

The office will provide tourists with police escorts and a boat good for 6-8 pax that will take you back and forth. This costs Php800.