Bucas Grande is an island in the province of

Surigao del Norte Surigao del Norte ( Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Norte''; ceb, Amihanang Surigao; Tagalog: ''Hilagang Surigao''), officially the Province of Surigao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region of Mindanao. ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The island is contiguous with the municipality of

Socorro, Surigao del Norte Socorro, officially the Municipality of Socorro ( Surigaonon: Lungsod nan Socorro; tl, Bayan ng Socorro), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Surigao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,942 ...

. Its area is . Its name means "large mouth" or "large opening" in

Philippine Spanish The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in reference to the wide

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

in between Bucas Grande and Socorro Island. Bucas Grande Island is situated on the far eastern part of mainland Surigao del Norte. The lone island municipality of Socorro is the only one of its kind in the entire province of Surigao del Norte. Bucas Grande Island lies within the breadth of the Pacific and is physically located at coordinates 9° 37′ 17″ North, 125° 58′ 0″ East. It has a total land area of 12,445 hectares and had a population of 25,942 inhabitants at the 2020 Census, and a voting population of over 13,000. People have settled in 14 barangays of the municipality namely: Barangays Don Albino Taruc, Navarro, Rizal, Del Pilar, Dona Helene, Honrado, Nueva Estrella, Pamosaingan, Salog, San Roque, Sudlon, Santa Cruz, Songkoy and N. Sering. Bucas Grande is also the site of the Sohoton Cove, a tourist attraction consisting of a cluster of small islets with lagoons, natural limestone caves, and rock formations. The name means "narrow opening" in

Visayan Visayans (Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...

, referring to the narrow gaps between the small islands. It is commonly mistaken as being a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

, due to the confusion with the similarly named

Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge Park The Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge Park is a protected natural area about 841 hectares and a tourist attraction within the Samar Island Natural Park. The natural park features caves, subterranean rivers, waterfalls, limestone formations, thic ...

Samar Island Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

to the north.

References

Islands of Surigao del Norte Tourist attractions in Surigao del Norte {{Caraga-geo-stub