Skorpios island is the small, green private islet off the east coast of Lefkada that the world came to know as the retreat of the shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Lying about three kilometres from the resort of Nydri, it is a lush, wooded dot in the sheltered channel where Lefkada meets its scatter of satellite islets. Onassis bought Skorpios island and turned it into a legendary private paradise, planting thousands of trees and building a residence, a chapel and a marina. It was here that he held his celebrated wedding to Jacqueline Kennedy, a moment that fixed the island in the popular imagination.
Skorpios island remains strictly private, held on a long lease, so no one can land or wander its paths. Yet it stays one of the most talked-about sights of the Nydri coast, and almost every boat trip from the resort circles it while guides retell the Onassis story. A single small beach is a traditional swim stop where boats are allowed to anchor. This guide covers where Skorpios is, the Onassis story, why the island became so famous, who owns it now. Whether you can visit or land, how to see it from a boat. What the green, closely guarded island is actually like.
Where is Skorpios island in Lefkada?
Skorpios island lies about three kilometres off the east coast of Lefkada, opposite the resort of Nydri. It is one of a cluster of small islets in the sheltered channel between Lefkada and the mainland.
Skorpios island sits in the calm waters off the east coast of Lefkada, roughly three kilometres out from the busy resort of Nydri. It belongs to a little archipelago of green islets that dot this sheltered channel, alongside Madouri, Sparti and the tiny Skorpidi. The setting is one of the prettiest on the island’s coast, a maze of wooded islands in protected blue water. Which is exactly why it drew the eye of a man who choose anywhere in the world. From the Nydri waterfront the low green hump of Skorpios is clearly visible across the bay.
The island’s closeness to Nydri is central to its story and to how visitors experience it today. Nydri is the launching point for the boats that circle Skorpios island, and the short distance means the islet is the first stop on most cruises along this coast. Beyond Skorpios the channel opens toward the larger island of Meganisi and the sea caves of the area, so Skorpios usually forms part of a wider loop among the satellite islands. Its position, private yet in full view of a busy resort, adds to the sense of a glamorous world just out of reach.
Who owned Skorpios island — the Onassis story?
Skorpios island was bought and developed by the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. He planted thousands of trees and built a residence, a chapel, a guesthouse and a small marina, turning the bare islet into a lush private estate.
The fame of Skorpios island rests on Aristotle Onassis, the Greek shipping magnate who bought the little islet and made it his private world. He transformed what had been a scrubby rock into a green estate, importing soil and planting thousands of trees and shrubs so that the island became densely wooded. On it he built a main residence, guesthouses for visitors, a chapel, tennis courts and a small marina able to receive his yacht. The scale of the project turned Skorpios into a byword for private luxury, a self-contained paradise for one of the richest men of his age.
Onassis used the island as a retreat from public life and a stage for entertaining the famous. His yacht, the Christina, lay in the marina, and a stream of statesmen, film stars and celebrities passed through as his guests. The island’s seclusion, ringed by open water and reachable only by boat, gave him the privacy that his very public life otherwise lacked. That combination of wealth, seclusion and glamour is what fixed Skorpios island in the popular imagination and made a small green islet off Lefkada one of the most famous private islands in the world.
Why is Skorpios island so famous?
Skorpios island became world-famous as the setting of Aristotle Onassis’s wedding to Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the US president. The glamorous marriage and the island’s jet-set guests made Skorpios a symbol of wealth and privacy.
More than anything, Skorpios island is remembered as the place where Aristotle Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the assassinated American president. The wedding, held in the island’s little chapel, drew the world’s press to the waters off Lefkada and turned Skorpios into a household name far beyond Greece. The union of the Greek shipping magnate and the former United States First Lady was one of the most talked-about events of its era. The private island where it took place became inseparable from the glamour and mystery surrounding the couple.
The fame did not fade with the wedding. Through the following years Skorpios island remained a symbol of jet-set living, its guest list a roll-call of the famous and its comings and goings followed by the international press. Even after the Onassis era, the island kept its aura. Guides on the Nydri boats still love to retell the story of Jackie O’s glamorous summers as they circle the shore. That living legend is a large part of why a small, closed island continues to draw so much curiosity from visitors to Lefkada.
Who owns Skorpios island now?
Skorpios island is no longer owned by the Onassis family. It is now held on a long lease by a Russian billionaire, and it remains a strictly private island, closed to the public and carefully guarded.
Ownership of Skorpios island passed down through the Onassis family after the tycoon’s death, remaining for a time with his descendants. In more recent years the island came under the control of a Russian billionaire, who holds it on a long lease running for decades. Under this arrangement Skorpios has stayed a private estate rather than opening to the public, and reports describe extensive works and tight security on the island. For visitors, the practical effect is simple: the island remains off-limits on land, whoever the current holder be.
The change of hands has not altered the island’s essential character or its pull on the imagination. Skorpios island is still a green, secretive place glimpsed from the water, its buildings half-hidden among the trees and its shore watched by staff and patrol boats. The mixture of continuing privacy and a famous past keeps it firmly on the itinerary of the Nydri cruises. Where the story of its owners, old and new, is part of the commentary. It is precisely because Skorpios cannot be entered that it retains so much of its mystique.
Can you visit or land on Skorpios island?
You cannot land on Skorpios island, as it is strictly private and guarded. Boats only circle it, though one small beach has traditionally been an allowed anchoring and swim stop for cruises passing by.
Skorpios island is not open to visitors, and landing on it is not permitted. As a private estate under a long lease, its paths, buildings and most of its shore are off-limits, watched by staff and patrol boats. Cruises along the Nydri coast are allowed to sail around the island and admire it from the water, but passengers cannot step ashore to explore. This is the single most important thing to understand before setting out: Skorpios is a sight to be seen from the sea, not a destination to be walked.
The one exception has traditionally been a small beach on the island where boats are permitted to anchor and let their passengers swim in the clear water just offshore. Access to this spot has varied over the years with the wishes of the island’s owners, so it is not guaranteed on every trip. Where it is allowed, a swim in the turquoise water beside a legendary private island is a highlight of the cruise. Beyond that brief stop, the rest of Skorpios island stays firmly closed, seen only as a green shore slipping past the boat.
How do you see Skorpios island on a boat trip?
You see Skorpios island on a boat trip from Nydri, which circles the island as part of a wider cruise around the satellite islets. Most trips combine Skorpios with Meganisi, Madouri and the sea caves of the area.
The way to experience Skorpios island is from the deck of a boat out of Nydri. Daily cruises leave the resort’s waterfront and make a loop among the green islets of the channel, and Skorpios is almost always the star of the tour. The boat sails slowly around the island’s wooded shore while a guide tells the Onassis story. Points out the marina and the buildings glimpsed among the trees, and, where permitted, pauses at the small beach for a swim. These Lefkada boat trips are the only practical way to see the island up close.
A typical cruise sets Skorpios within a fuller day on the water. The same loop usually takes in the neighbouring island of Meganisi with its sea caves, the wooded islet of Madouri linked to a famous Greek poet, and swim stops in sheltered coves along the way. Larger tourist boats, small hired motorboats and sailing trips all cover this coast, so there is an option to suit most visitors. Seeing Skorpios island this way, as one jewel in a string of green islets. Gives a real sense of why this sheltered corner of Lefkada so captivated its most famous owner.
What is Skorpios island like?
Skorpios island is small, lush and densely wooded, ringed by clear water and a few small beaches. Hidden among the trees are the Onassis residence, a chapel, a marina and the family graves, most of it unseen from the water.
Seen from a boat, Skorpios island is a compact, intensely green dome rising from the blue channel. The thousands of trees Onassis planted have grown into dense woodland that cloaks the slopes and hides most of the buildings. The island reads as a wild. Wooded retreat rather than a built estate. Its shoreline is broken by small coves and one or two little beaches of pale sand and pebble, lapped by remarkably clear water. The overall impression is of a private, cared-for paradise, deliberately screened from the outside world by its curtain of greenery.
Much of what makes Skorpios island significant lies unseen among those trees. The main residence, the guesthouses, the chapel where the famous wedding took place and the small marina are set back from the shore. Glimpsed only in fragments as a boat passes. Near the chapel lie the graves of Aristotle Onassis and two of his children, giving the island a solemn as well as a glamorous character. This blend of luxury, seclusion and family memorial, all wrapped in green and set in turquoise water off Lefkada. Is what makes Skorpios one of the most intriguing sights in the Ionian, even though its secrets stay firmly ashore.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you land on Skorpios island?
No, you cannot land on Skorpios island. It is a strictly private estate held on a long lease and is guarded by staff and patrol boats, so its paths and buildings are off-limits to visitors. Cruises from Nydri are allowed to sail around the island and view it from the water, but passengers cannot go ashore to explore. The one traditional exception is a small beach where boats have sometimes been permitted to anchor so passengers can swim just offshore, though this depends on the wishes of the island’s owners and is not guaranteed on every trip. For most visitors, Skorpios is a sight seen only from the sea.
Who is buried on Skorpios island?
Aristotle Onassis is buried on Skorpios island, near the small chapel where he married Jacqueline Kennedy. Two of his children, his son and daughter, are buried there as well, making the island a family resting place as much as a former private retreat. The graves lie among the trees close to the chapel and are not accessible to the public, since the island remains closed. Their presence gives Skorpios a solemn dimension beneath its glamorous reputation. The story of the family is a central part of the commentary given by guides on the boat trips that circle the island from Nydri.
How do you get to Skorpios island from Nydri?
You reach the waters around Skorpios island by boat from Nydri, about three kilometres away on the east coast of Lefkada. Daily cruises leave the Nydri waterfront and circle the island as part of a loop among the satellite islets. Options range from large tourist boats to small self-drive motorboats and sailing trips, and most combine Skorpios with Meganisi, Madouri and the sea caves of the area. Because the island is private, these trips only sail around it rather than landing, though some pause at a small beach for a swim where this is allowed. Nydri is the natural base for seeing Skorpios.
Is Skorpios island still owned by the Onassis family?
No, Skorpios island is no longer owned by the Onassis family. After passing down through Aristotle Onassis’s descendants, the island came under the control of a Russian billionaire, who holds it on a long lease lasting decades. It remains a strictly private island, closed to the public and carefully guarded, so in practice the change of ownership makes little difference to visitors. Whoever holds it, Skorpios cannot be entered on land. The Onassis story, however, remains the heart of the island’s fame, and the family graves by the chapel keep the connection to its most famous owner very much alive.
Can you swim at Skorpios island?
Sometimes. While you cannot land and explore Skorpios island, boats on the Nydri cruises have traditionally been allowed to anchor off one small beach so passengers can swim in the clear turquoise water just offshore. Whether this stop is included depends on the current wishes of the island’s owners and can change from season to season, so it is not guaranteed. When it is offered, a swim beside the legendary private island is one of the highlights of the trip. The rest of the shoreline and the whole interior stay off-limits, so any swimming is confined to that single permitted spot in the water.