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Jackie’s island

June 3, 2019 | Michael Turtle | 21 Comments

ISLAND PARADISE

Jackie Onassis naked

She thought she was safe, far away from the creatures that chased her, armed with their notebooks and cameras. She thought she had found a sanctuary where she could be free from constant fear of an invasion.

So it was here, on the island of Skorpios in the Ionian Sea, that Jackie Onassis slipped out of her clothes and prepared to lay down naked in the Greek sun.

Click.

A local paparazzo had found her… and he had caught her without any defences.

The photograph of the former US First Lady in the nude went around the world. The island, Skorpios, was well-known in high society circles already but now its name was being mentioned in supermarkets and hairdressers.

jackie onassis naked, skorpios, greek islands, aristotle onassis

At the time it was owned by Jackie’s husband, billionaire Aristotle Onassis. Since his death, it has stayed in the family but is very rarely used by any members.

Rumours constantly appear suggesting it is going to be sold to someone like Bill Gates or Madonna, but there never seems to be any truth in them. With an estimated price tag of between 150 and 200 million dollars, it would need to be someone extremely wealthy who would spend so much.

jackie onassis naked, skorpios, greek islands, aristotle onassis

Skorpios island in Greece

There’s very little infrastructure on the island of Skorpios, although you can tell that it is being looked after.

Pathways along the water’s edge are cleared of vegetation and debris and, despite a large amount of vegetation, nothing is overrun. Over 200 types of plants were apparently brought by Aristotle Onassis to the island, which was quite barren when he first bought it.

jackie onassis naked, skorpios, greek islands, aristotle onassis

Next to a small sandy beach, the small white building known as Myconos house (and once called “The Pig House”) is closed but looks well-maintained. This was where Jackie’s photo was taken.

There are quite a few boats anchored in the small bay around the Myconos House – including ours. I’m on a sailing trip for a week and we’ve stopped at Skorpios for an afternoon swim as we pass by.

jackie onassis naked, skorpios, greek islands, aristotle onassis

It’s a beautiful place for a dip and no surprise that it’s popular with the other yachts that come and go while we’re here. You have to assume that the island’s owners and its glamourous past is a large part of the allure, though.

jackie onassis naked, skorpios, greek islands, aristotle onassis

Being private property, you can’t land and explore Skorpios unfortunately. Although it’s unlikely you would get in anybody’s way – the last census reported just two inhabitants on the island.

Perhaps one day it will change hands and there will be an opportunity for us mere mortals to see more of it. That is, if someone who is willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a tiny bit of land would be so inclined.

Time Travel Turtle was a guest on Intrepid Travel’s Sail Greece – Ionian Sea trip but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.

Greece Travel Guide

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT Greece?

See my Greece Travel Guide

To help you plan your Greece travel:

  • As 3 day itinerary for historic Athens
  • Hoe to get a free local tour of Athens
  • The wonder of the Acropolis in Athens
  • How to see the origin of the Olympics
  • An ancient civilisation as a day trip from Athens
  • Is this where modern medicine all began?
  • The Greek island where Jackie Onassis escaped to

Let someone else do the work for you:

You may also want to consider taking a tour of Greece, rather than organising everything on your own. It’s also a nice way to have company if you are travelling solo.

I am a ‘Wanderer’ with G Adventures and they have great tours of Greece.

You could consider:

  • Sailing Greece – Mykonos to Santorini (8 days)
  • Best of Greece (15 days)
  • Sailing Greece – Athens to Santorini (15 days)

When I travel internationally, I always get insurance. It’s not worth the risk, in case there’s a medical emergency or another serious incident. I recommend you should use World Nomads for your trip.

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. D.J. - The World of Deej |

    August 20, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    Reply

    Great story…I didn’t know that little piece of history, although I was familiar with Skorpios…

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 22, 2012 at 2:40 am

      Reply

      I’d never even heard of Skorpios before so I had a lot of fun learning more about it.

  2. Elmer Cruz |

    August 21, 2012 at 11:34 am

    Reply

    Would love to do my own piece of Jackie O there! Hehehehe

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 22, 2012 at 2:41 am

      Reply

      Ha ha… I think you may have missed your chance…

  3. Linda McCormick |

    August 21, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    Reply

    Lovely post. If I had a spare Euro 200 million I’d definitely buy Skorpios!

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 22, 2012 at 2:42 am

      Reply

      Tell me about it! All I want for Christmas now is an island!!! (Not asking too much am I?)

  4. Natalie |

    August 21, 2012 at 3:28 pm

    Reply

    I am buying it!!! In my dreams but naughty of that photographer though. Invasion of privacy

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 22, 2012 at 2:42 am

      Reply

      I feel a bit sorry for her after she’d gone all the way to a private island in the middle of the Ionian Sea…

  5. rdsean |

    August 21, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    Reply

    what a story.. i just knew it here.. i wish i could buy an island too.. hehe 😛

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 22, 2012 at 2:43 am

      Reply

      Apparently there are some cheaper islands on the market. Don’t give up on your dream!! 🙂

  6. Beth |

    August 28, 2012 at 4:38 am

    Reply

    Yes, nice island I guess. Has anyone entertained the idea that Jackie O wanted to be photographed that day? It’s a win win situation…the whole world gets to see her nude but she doesn’t have to be responsible for allowing it to happen. Very early example of publicity in my opinion. If she truly did not want to take the chance of being photographed in the nude, she shouldn’t have been sunbathing in the nude…very logical answer.

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 31, 2012 at 5:22 pm

      Reply

      Interesting theory. I would certainly agree that a lot of the celebs who get caught doing things these days have set the whole thing up for publicity. But I’m not sure what Jackie would’ve got out of it in this situation. If anything, she’d be trying to get less publicity – not more – by this stage of her life. But… who knows, eh?

  7. Geoff H. |

    August 31, 2012 at 1:41 am

    Reply

    Looks “fine” lol

    Wonder how much a bottle of soda would cost on this island. It must be so difficult to deliver goods here…

    • Michael Turtle |

      August 31, 2012 at 5:42 pm

      Reply

      I don’t think the kind of people who buy an island for 200 million dollars really care how much a bottle of soda costs 🙂

  8. Mary @ Green Global Travel |

    October 24, 2012 at 3:25 am

    Reply

    Poor Jackie, where’s a lady got to go to get some privacy? Thanks for sharing this interesting story about one of the lessor known Greek Islands.

    • Michael Turtle |

      October 24, 2012 at 10:38 am

      Reply

      I know – you couldn’t really get much more remote than that. But still they find her!

  9. Solon |

    January 13, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    Reply

    Technically by law you can land on the island as long as you do not go more than 8 meters into the island from where the winter shoreline is formed. But as experience has shown you will be promptly asked to leave…

    • Michael Turtle |

      January 14, 2013 at 9:18 pm

      Reply

      Ah, that’s interesting to know. I don’t think this is the island to test the law and argue about technicalities, though! 🙂

  10. Platon |

    January 23, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    Reply

    All beaches in Greece are public.

    • Michael Turtle |

      February 6, 2013 at 12:52 am

      Reply

      I’d like to see someone argue the case with the guards at this island! 🙂

  11. Nelms |

    July 19, 2019 at 8:38 am

    Reply

    Interested on Greece trip in November.

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This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.

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