San Diego Burial at Sea Charter - Ash Scattering Methods

Sea Burial - Ash Scattering Services - Scattering Methods
Urns & Keepsakes - Shipping Ashes - History and Acceptance

There are three ways to perform burial at sea (ash scattering over the water) and all are very common;

1. Scattering directly from the container received from the cremation facility. The ashes are poured directly into the water on the down wind side of the yacht. With this type of scattering it is necessary to be careful that the ashes land in the water and do not get blown back or stuck to the side of the yacht. The yacht captain and your host will assist to help prevent this.
2. Scattering with the use of a bio-degradable urn. These urns are specifically designed to gradually disperse the ashes back to the sea. A water-soluble urn will usually float for several minutes then slowly sink where it will degrade or melt back to the sea. The survivors will often toss flowers or petals as a final tribute as the urn slowly drifts away. It provides the family with a going into the sunset scenario.
3. Scattering from a basket. Your loved ones ashes are placed in the wicker basket with rose petals placed on top. The basket is then lowered to about to 2 feet below the water surface and the basket is inverted. The rose petals float to the surface and the ashes disperse in the ocean.

The scattering method used may be selected by the family. Often when scattering from several feet off the surface of the ocean we opt for option 2 or 3.

With ash scattering some families also choose to keep a portion of the ashes in various forms as keepsake. If you would like to use the Bio-Degradable urn option or to retain some ashes as a keepsake please refer to our section on Urns & Keepsakes.