Beyond the shoreline

Sea Burial

A farewell as vast as the sea itself.

Not ashes scattered off the beach. A full-body committal in open ocean, three thousand metres down — the first in Victoria in more than a decade was ours to carry.

Call 1300 788 881 — any hour Watch the voyage

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Some people spend their lives on the water. It is no small thing to be able to stay there.

A full-body sea burial is rare, federally permitted, and unlike anything else we arrange. We have done it, we know precisely what it asks, and we will tell you honestly whether it is right for your family.

Not a scatteringThe person themselves, unembalmed and in a natural shroud, committed to water more than 3,000 metres deep
The route is oursOne stretch of the Victorian coast puts water this deep within a day's sail. Working that out is most of what makes this possible
It has to be plannedA federal permit needs the person's own wish in writing. It cannot be arranged on next of kin's word alone

The voyage

Three days, one horizon

Most of a sea burial happens quietly, long before the water. This is how the days unfold.

A long table set for dinner beside a window looking out to the ocean at dusk

The evening before

Everyone is there, even those who won't sail

Only a small party can go out, so the night before belongs to the whole family. A long table near the water, local food, photographs passed around.

Messages are written on paper that dissolves in seawater. They go out with us in the morning.

Family gathered on the pontoon beside the charter boat in the first light of the morning

First light · the wharf

By the time you arrive, it is done

We are up hours before you. The person you love is already aboard and settled on the cradle at the stern, every check complete. There is coffee, cold air, and time to stand together before the lines come off.

A single small vessel far out on open water, with nothing but sea and sky around it

Four hours out

The coast thins to a line, then to nothing

Dolphins come to the bow. Albatross hold the wind off the stern without a single beat. It is beautiful, and it is long — eight to ten hours all up, so we bring the blankets, the jackets, the ginger lollies and the food.

There is nothing to do out there but sit with each other. That turns out to be the point.

A single vessel stopped alone on open ocean, seen from above, with no land in any direction

The committal · 3,000 metres

The engines drop, and the sea goes quiet

At the position the permit names, we bring the shroud to the edge until the feet clear the transom. The head is lifted, and gravity does the rest — feet first, silently, gone within seconds.

Then a single rose from each of you. Loose petals for everyone who couldn't come. And the letters from the night before, drifting off on the current.

The vessel completing a slow full circle over the resting place, its wake closing the ring behind it

The way home

A slow circle, and a guard of honour

The skipper turns the vessel in a full, unhurried circle over the place, and holds there a moment before pointing the bow at land. The way back is quieter than the way out.

No plot to visit. No plaque to read. A position on a chart, and the whole ocean above it.

We filmed it

Watch the voyage

A day at sea, cut to a few minutes. It is the clearest way to understand what this actually feels like.

Watch the voyage film

Filmed on the voyage. Shared with the family's permission.

What it takes

The part you never have to think about

Three things make a sea burial lawful and possible, and all three are ours to carry — along with the one that took longest to work out: where to sail from.

A hand at the vessel's chart plotter, finding the position on the open ocean — The permit

A federal permit names a position on the open ocean. Getting a vessel lawfully to it — including the extended-range approval — is ours to arrange.

The linen shroud secured on its pine bearer at the stern, with the vessel's wake beyond — Care without chemicals

Embalming isn't permitted, so it is warm water, plant-based soap, native oils, and a natural shroud sewn closed by hand.

Black cockatoos in the branches of a coastal eucalypt above the southern ocean — The journey, offset

We measure the whole farewell's emissions with Trace and offset them at 150%, and a tree is planted in their name.

If the detail matters to you — and for some families it does — we've written the whole thing down.

Read the full account of the voyage

The one thing we need from you

We can do all of it. We just can't do it late.

Every other farewell on this site can be arranged after someone dies. This one has to be set up before.

If someone you love is unwell and this is what they want, call today rather than this week. There is usually still time. Time is the whole thing.

Call 1300 788 881 — any hour Send an enquiry

The first full-body sea burial in Victoria in over a decade was ours.

Wherever you are in Victoria, we bring the person into our care and carry the rest.

The cost

From

$35,000

for the whole voyage: the federal permit, natural preparation and shroud, our team beside you across three days, the hearse, a private full-day charter, catering aboard and the death certificate package. Where in Victoria you are, and what you'd like around the day, will move the figure — and every part of it is set out in writing before anything is confirmed.

Ask us for an estimate

Two people holding each other in an embrace on the wharf beside the charter boat

Watching the crew guide Dad aboard with such care gave us immediate peace of mind.
— A family who sailed with us

When you’re ready

We’re here, whenever you need us.

Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week — and the person who answers your call is the person who’ll care for everything from there. Today, or whenever the time is right for your family.

Call 1300 788 881 Ask a question