There is a small outlying rock to its west and three companion islets called the Little Scares are about 1 km to the north east.

[2] Big Scare is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south west of Port William and a similar distance east of the Mull of Galloway.

The schooner Annie Mclester was wrecked on Big Scare at an unknown date in the 19th century.

[1] The islands are part of Luce Bay and Sands SAC and are leased to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

They have been described as an "inaccessible bird reserve" and provide nesting sites for more than 2,000 pairs of breeding northern gannets, hundreds of guillemots and smaller numbers of shags and kittiwakes.