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, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. 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 San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, 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 appro ...

, a mountain range. Formerly an important

cacao bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao trees ...

producer, much of the valley consists of abandoned

cacao plantation ''Theobroma cacao'' (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the Malvaceae family. Its seedscocoa beansare used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. Although the tree is native to the tropi ...

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 technolo ...

. The Santa Cruz Valley is considered prime residential real estate, 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 resident ...

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. Early life Stol ...

(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 Po ...

(b. 1944, poet) *

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely renowned as one of the greatest Batting (cricket), batsmen of all time. He holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest in ...

(b. 1969, cricketer) *

Dwayne Bravo Dwayne John Bravo (born 7 October 1983) is a Trinidadian retired cricketer, a former captain of the West Indies cricket team and the current mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. Prior to that, he served as a bowling c ...

(b. 1983, cricketer) *

Darren Bravo Darren Michael Bravo (born 6 February 1989) is a Trinidadian cricketer who has played 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 ...

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