Santa Cruz is a town in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It extends across the Santa Cruz Valley, between

Maraval Maraval is one of the northern suburbs of Trinidad's capital, Port of Spain, a valley in northern Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago. It is situated at the bottom of the hills of Paramin and located east of the Diego Martin valley to which it is conn ...

and San Juan, along the Saddle Road. It lies between the hills of the

Northern Range The Northern Range is the range of tall hills across north Trinidad, the major island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The hills range from the Chaguaramas peninsula on the west coast to Toco in the east. The Northern Range covers approx ...

, a mountain range. Formerly an important

cacao bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...

producer, much of the valley consists of abandoned

cacao plantation ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pro ...

s or

small-scale agriculture A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

. The Santa Cruz Valley is considered prime residential

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

, and many upscale

residential development A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

s like Riverside Park, have begun sprouting in the valley. Small neighbourhoods that form part of Upper Santa Cruz are Saddle Grove, Cangrejal, Jagan village, Hololo Road, Paxvale, Cantaro, Graceland Heights, Gasparillo, Sam Boucaud, La Pastora Settlement, Soconusco Settlement and Pipiol. Lower Santa Cruz consists of La Canoa and Bourg Mulatresse, commonly referred to as "Book" in local vernacular. Compared to Upper Santa Cruz, Lower Santa Cruz is more developed. Santa Cruz is home for a few primary and secondary schools. Some primary schools include the La Pastora Government Primary School, Santa Cruz Presbyterian School, Cantaro Roman Catholic School and Bourg Mulatresse Primary School. San Juan North Secondary School is also situated in the Lower Santa Cruz Valley and it was constructed along the mountain side in Bourg Mulatresse near the Bourg Mulatresse Primary School. There are two postal delivery offices and fuel stations in Bourg Mulatresse and Cantaro. Santa Cruz is also home of a police station and a fire station. The Santa Cruz Fire Station houses the Land Search and Rescue Team, this team responds to all search and rescue calls within the Northern Division dealing with automobile accidents, fire emergencies, North Coast Road mishaps and assisting EMTs in responding to medical emergencies beyond road access.

Notable persons

Jeff Stollmeyer Jeffrey Baxter Stollmeyer (11 March 1921 – 10 September 1989) was a Trinidad and Tobago cricketer who played as an opening batsman. He played 32 Test matches for the West Indies, captaining 13 of these. He was also a senator. Cricket career ...

(1921–1989, cricketer) *

Eintou Pearl Springer Eintou Pearl Springer (formerly Pearl Eintou Springer) (born Cantaro village, Santa Cruz, Trinidad, 24 November 1944) is a poet, playwright, librarian and cultural activist from Trinidad and Tobago. In May 2002, she was named Poet Laureate of P ...

(b. 1944, poet) *

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...

(b. 1969, cricketer) *

Dwayne Bravo Dwayne John Bravo (born 7 October 1983) is a Trinidadian cricketer and a former captain of the West Indies cricket team. A genuine right arm seam bowling all-rounder, Bravo is well known for his aggressive lower-order batting and for his bowli ...

(b. 1983, cricketer) *

Darren Bravo Darren Michael Bravo (born 6 February 1989) is a Trinidadian Cricketer who plays international cricket for the West Indies. A left-handed batsman, his batting style has drawn comparisons with Brian Lara. Bravo is the younger half brother of fel ...

(b. 1989, cricketer) Populated places in Trinidad and Tobago {{Trinidad-geo-stub