The municipality is divided into the barrios of Buenaventura, Doce Leguas, El Junco, Gonzalo de Quesada, Guaicanamar, Guayabal, La Calzada, Playa Bonita, San Pedro and Yaguabo.

[1] The city has a special place in history due to its total destruction by the storm surge during the catastrophic hurricane of 1932 beginning late on November 8, 1932.

[4] In a few hours, approximately at 10:00 am of November 9, the city disappeared under the sea, and more than 3,000 of its inhabitants drowned or were crushed by flying debris carried by winds in excess of 135 mph (215 km/h).

Why a select number of survivors escaped the storm, and why the town was not evacuated prior to landfall, persist as questions.

Fishermen of Santa Cruz were said to have predicted the event, apparently suspecting that "something wrong was brewing in the atmosphere."