A Peaceful Way of Living in Santa Cruz del Islote, Columbia

• Santa Cruz del Islote is a small island located in Columbia.
• It is so peaceful that no crime has ever occurred there according to its residents.
• Although small, the island welcomes tourists who wish to explore and learn about their culture.

Santa Cruz del Islote is a 2.4 acre island composed of raised sea bed and corals. It is one of the ten islands located in the San Bernardino Archipelago, in the Gulf of Morosquillo.

Considering its size, it is one of the most densely populated island the world.

Due to its remote location, electricity runs for only five hours daily and there is no running water there either.

Only the Columbian army supplies fresh water to its residents once a month.

Still, there’s a restaurant, a disco, at least two grocery stores, a school, and other tourist attractions in Santa Cruz del Islote. A conservation aquarium has been established there as well, where visitors can see turtles, small sharks, fish, and stingrays.

Tourists, however, cannot stay in Santa Cruz overnight, simply because there’s nowhere to stay at. They would have to go to Punta Faro hotel on the near-by island of Múcura.

Fishing is their primary source of livelihood there, although some of the residents have work on the neighboring islands.

Some say there are approximately 1,200 people inhabiting this island, which has the size of about one and a half soccer fields.

Others believe the community is smaller than that. Juve Nal, a sexagenarian born and raised in the island says its more like 900.

“We get annoyed because the media always say the island is more crowded than it is,” says Nal according to CNN.

Here, there is zero crime rate. People are so trusting that they don’t lock the doors of their colorful homes, which had been passed down for generations.

“There is no crime here,” Nal proudly said in the article. “We have no police and we don’t need them either.”

Despite their living condition, the people of Santa Cruz del Islote are happy and content to remain in this peaceful isle. There are no non-native residents in Santa Cruz.

“People are proud to live there. It’s more than just a community, it’s a culture. a way of life. They don’t want to be any place else,” Nal said.