Santa Cruz del Islote is unofficially the world’s most crowded island. It can be reached by an hour-long boat ride from Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. It has some 90 houses and a population of around 700 people, which can rise to 1200 when children who attend secondary school on the mainland visit their families. Santa Cruz is surrounded by idyllic waters, but there is no beach, no swimming pool or hotel. The islanders bury their dead in a nearby island because there is no space for a cemetery. They play football on the neighbouring Mucura Island because the only public square on Santa Cruz is about half the size of a tennis court.


There is currently no electricity on Santa Cruz. The Colombian navy ships bring drinking water to the island, once every three weeks, but that’s not enough for the impoverished population. Women wash clothes with salty water from a nearby well, and men settle for doing most of their necessities along the surrounding sea. Despite these troubles, Santa Cruz is a peaceful island-village. There are no locked doors here, and at night, dozens of people gather in their neighbours’ homes to watch popular soap operas.