Great Santa Cruz Island is around 7km off the Zamboanga City waterfront, and is home to only a few dozen families from the Samal tribe. Visitors come to see the pinkish 2km-long beach, coloured from finely crushed red coral. You can swim here, but it’s on a busy shipping channel and currents are strong. Bangkas (round-trip P2500 for up to six people) leave from in front of Paseo del Mar.