A complete travel guide to Coober Pedy
The wild, weird and wonderful town of Coober Pedy should not be missed when exploring the red centre of Australia. The underground town is famous for being opal mad, being the opal capital of Australia. Roughly 70% of the town's population lives underground.
Here are the top things to experience when visiting this unique town. In our opinion two full days will cover all the main attractions, however, if you choose to stay longer you will be able to immerse yourself in the rich history, and attractions and meet some of the local characters.
Our favourite thing to do when visiting Coober Pedy for the first time is to explore the town itself. It is not the most picturesque town but it is truly weird and wonderful. It is full of bizarre sculptures, dugout houses and interesting streets. Our favourite free sights are the big winch, a blue bus that has been converted into mining machinery, a VW beetle with spider legs and the two big signs that welcome visitors just off the highway.
Take a walk along the main street and you will find multiple opal jewellers selling a variety of jewellery, cafes, underground hotels and underground churches all worth visiting (some at a fee).
We recommend visiting the Big Winch 360 at sunset for a drink to get a great view of the town below and the surrounding glowing hills and opal mines. The bar and restaurant also have a lovely souvenir shop within and in our opinion is the best in town.
The highlight of our time in Coober Pedy was the mining tour at Umoona Opal Mine and Museum. Led by a very informative old bloke, Rudy who spent years trying to strike it rich, opal mining in Coober Pedy. The tour begins with an informative video about the origins of the town, mining and how opals are formed. You then get to explore a dugout (underground home) and the old mine. You end the tour at the jeweller where you can see opals being polished. We found it really interesting and this was a much more affordable tour option offered in town. After being inspired during the mine tour we decided to try our luck at noodling.
Another bucket list experience when visiting Coober Pedy is staying in an underground hotel. It is hard to explain this experience. There are so many accommodation options in Coober Pedy depending on your budget, there are air bnbs, 4-star hotels, underground backpackers and even a campground that is underground!!! We stayed in a lovely Airbnb just outside of town that was hand built by the owners. It had a private actress point that led straight into the hill, with plenty of space for a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and full bathroom. It was a very comfortable stay and such a unique experience.
After spending some time in town make sure you take the short drive north of the town to visit the Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park. The best time to visit is early morning or afternoon so that you can experience the best of the colours on the hills.
Entrance fee; $11.00 per vehicle paid directly on National Parks and Wildlife Services, South Australia
From Coober Pedy we tackled the Oodnadatta Track to the iconic William Creek…
