Fort Pilar
The Real Fuerza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza), also Fort Pilar, is a 17th-century military defense fortress built by the Spanish colonial government in Zamboanga City, Philippines. The fort, which is now a regional museum of the National Museum of the Philippines, is a major landmark of the city and symbol of its cultural heritage. Outside the eastern wall is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the city.
Pasonanca Park
The park has 3 public pools. It boasts an Olympic size swimming pool, a natural flowing pool and a children’s pool with water slides. There are also lots of picnic areas. Designed for children’s safety. There are four water slides. The slide farthest to the right is for the beginner. The one farthest to the left is the fastest slide. Rent with Zamboanga Rent a Car to visit this park!
Paseo del Mar
Paseo del Mar is within the barangay of Zone IV and is only about 100 feet from Fort Pilar. There are several cement benches at the park and there is a long walkway along the shoreline or break-water. In the afternoon when there are visitors, the bajao kids in their bancas paddle along the breakwater walkways and entice the visitors to throw coins into the sea water. It’s fun to watch the badjaos dive and fetch the coin before it hits bottom.
Pink Sand Beach
Great Santa Cruz Island is a small inhabited island in Zamboanga City in the southern region of the Philippines that is famous for its pink coralline sand. The island, located 4 kilometers (2.49 mi) south of downtown at the Santa Cruz Bank in the Basilan Strait, boasts the only pink sand beach in the Philippines. The color of the sand comes from the pulverized red organ pipe coral from eons of surf erosion mixed with the white sand.
The island started to become popular since the 1970s and early 1980s when it was frequented by German, Japanese and Italian tourists. Recently, there’s an upsurge of tourists that have been recorded due to its rising popularity as one of a handful of Pink Sand Beaches in the World and is the only one in Asia. In 2017, it was recognized by National Geographic as one of the 21 Best Beaches in the World.
Merloquet Falls
Merloquet Falls is actually a two-tiered waterfall with the upper level located around 50 meters from the main cascade. This upper tier is stunning, with an inclined rock face with five separate but low cascades. The water stream into a shallow basin then flows downstream into the main waterfall in a wide curtain.