Santa Cruz Island

Philippines , Philippines

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Santa Cruz Island (specifically Great Santa Cruz Island) is a small inhabited island in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, famous for its rare pink sand beach—the only pink sand beach in Asia and one of only a handful in the world.

Located about 4–7 kilometers south of downtown Zamboanga City in the Basilan Strait, the island's distinctive pink-colored sand comes from pulverized red organ pipe coral mixed with white sand due to eons of surf erosion. The island features a 2-kilometer-long pinkish beach with pristine clear waters perfect for swimming and beach relaxation.

It's home to only a few dozen families from the Samal tribe and also offers a mangrove lagoon tour where visitors can see stingless jellyfish, plus the opportunity to visit the indigenous Badjao sea gypsies community. In 2017, National Geographic recognized it as one of the 21 Best Beaches in the World, and it has seen an upsurge in tourists due to its rising fame.

The island is part of the protected Great and Little Santa Cruz Islands Protected Landscape & Seascape (1,877 hectares), so visitor access is regulated with no overnight stays allowed. To visit, tourists register at the Zamboanga City Tourism Office at Paseo del Mar and take a 10–15 minute motorized boat ride (operating 7 am–2 pm, last return at 3 pm), with round-trip boat fees around ₱1,000 for up to 10 people and a ₱20 environmental fee per person.