Bucas Grande Island
Definition
Bucas Grande is an island in the province of Surigao del Norte in the Philippines, contiguous with the municipality of Socorro, covering about 128 square kilometers. Its name is derived from a phrase meaning “large mouth” or “large opening,” a reference to the wide strait along the island. Bucas Grande is best known for Sohoton Cove, its limestone karst lagoons, and the stingless jellyfish of Tojoman Lagoon, and it forms part of the Siargao Island Protected Landscapes and Seascapes.
Identities (Wikipedia/Wikidata/DBpedia)
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucas_Grande
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q729785
- DBpedia: N/A
Also Known As
Bucas Grande Island; Socorro Island (colloquial, after its municipality).
Examples and Analogies
If neighboring Siargao is the surfing capital, Bucas Grande is its quiet geological cousin: instead of barreling waves, it offers a drowned karst landscape—coves, caves, and lagoons hollowed from limestone—where visitors paddle through Sohoton Cove’s Sohoton Natural Bridge and swim with golden jellyfish that have lost their sting, an ecosystem comparable to Palau’s famed Jellyfish Lake in miniature.
Usage Scenarios
Tourists reach the island by boat from General Luna or Dapa on Siargao or from the mainland, typically on day tours that include Sohoton Cove, the jellyfish lagoon, cliff jumping spots, and caves such as Magkukuob. Residents of Socorro, organized into community-based tourism associations, operate boats, guides, and homestays, making the island a model of locally managed eco-tourism.
Strategies
Sohoton tours are run through a controlled booking and permit system under the protected-area management board, which caps visitor numbers and requires local guides. Zoning separates conservation areas from tourism zones, and the community distributes tourism income across barangays to reduce pressure to over-exploit any single site.
Security and Safety Measures
Boat operations follow coastguard-mandated life-vest rules, and swimming with the jellyfish is allowed only in designated areas of the lagoon where the population concentrates. Protected-area rules prohibit touching or harvesting wildlife, anchoring on corals, and entering caves without guides.
Historical Context
Socorro town on the island grew from early twentieth-century settlement, at one point associated with a charismatic religious community. For decades Bucas Grande remained a fishing and copra backwater until Siargao’s global surf boom spilled over in the 2010s, when Sohoton’s karst scenery and the jellyfish lagoon began drawing international visitors. Its inclusion in the Siargao Island Protected Landscapes and Seascapes formalized conservation alongside development.
Challenges and Controversies
Rapid tourism growth raises concerns about carrying capacity, waste management on a small island, and equitable sharing of tourism income among Socorro’s barangays. Conservationists have flagged the vulnerability of the jellyfish population to climate and water-quality changes—a decline in the golden jellyfish would strike at the island’s main attraction—and typhoon damage, such as that wrought by Odette (Rai) in 2021, repeatedly tests the resilience of both ecosystems and livelihoods.
Related Topic
Sohoton Cove