Scanning cycle synchronization of a multicast service in a broadband wireless access system is provided. Multicast group information of a multicast group to which a Mobile Station (MS) belongs is received at the MS from an application server. A scanning cycle pattern and a scan offset of a multicast service corresponding to the multicast group are determined. A scanning cycle of the multicast is set according to the scanning cycle pattern and the scan offset. Scanning and reception of multicast data are performed according to the scanning cycle.