Skorpios Island, Greece: The Private Island of the Onassis Family
Skorpios is a private island in the Ionian Sea in Greece, roughly 1 kilometer off the coast of Lefkada and 2 kilometers north of Meganisi. Skorpios forms a small group with two neighbouring islets, Skorpidi and Sparti. It is a green, wooded island whose highest point reaches 81 metres, and it is widely known as the island of Onassis.
- Off Lefkada
- ~1 km
- North of Meganisi
- 2 km
- Highest point
- 81 m
- Onassis bought
- 1960s
Skorpios, the island of Onassis
The Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis bought Skorpios in the 1960s, and the island has stayed in the family ever since. Aristotle Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of US President John F. Kennedy, on Skorpios on 20 October 1968. Aristotle Onassis, his son Alexander and his daughter Christina are all buried on the island. Ownership passed to Christina Onassis after Aristotle's death, and then to her daughter Athina Roussel.
Can you visit Skorpios?
Skorpios is private property and is closed to visitors, so you cannot land on the island. Athina Roussel reportedly spends little time there, and the island has been valued at more than 200 million euros, which ranks it among the most expensive private islands in the world.
Seeing Skorpios by boat from Nydri
You can still see Skorpios from the water even though you cannot step ashore. Day-cruise boats leave the harbour of Nydri on the east coast of Lefkada and sail around Skorpios, usually pausing to swim off its beaches before continuing to Meganisi and the sea caves of the smaller Ionian islands. Skorpios lies about 1 kilometer offshore, so the island is an easy, short crossing from Nydri and a standard stop on the round-island trips that run through the summer season.