Coober Pedy is the adapted version for the Aboriginal term “kupa piti”, which means ‘white man in a hole’. Prior to 1920 Coober Pedy was known as the Stuart Range Opal Field named after the first European settler, John McDouall Stuart.

The town has a population of around 3500 people consisting of 45 different nationalities and more than 50% live underground. There are more than 70 opal fields with countless drill holes and shafts.

No matter what the weather is outside, underground temperatures remain between 23 and 25 degrees. You can easily be confronted with 45 degrees or more in the summer and very cold winter nights. The annual rainfall is only small at around 175mm a year.

The first opal was discovered in 1915 and people reliased it is not bad to live underground. While their homes were very basic back then, nowadays you can find entire hotels and luxury mansions underground.

You may not  see from the outside how far the tunnels and properties go, but the many chimneys rising from the sand are a good indication on how large these dugouts expand.

• See underground old mining shafts and homes,  explore an opal museum
• Visit an underground church, the Serbian Orthodox and Catacomb Church are the most visited because of their architecture
• See the Opal Fossils of South Australia including opalised shells, worms and the backbone of an Ichthyosaur, a large but extinct marine reptile
• Wander through the local indigeneous art gallery and fall in love with the orphaned kangaroo babies that they raise
• Play Golf surrounded by Outback desert
• Try your luck in Noodling, a term used for searching for opal through mullock piles

• Get up to the hilltop overlooking the town and also home to the first tree ever seen in town, a scrap iron tree
• Take in the views from the Big Winch Lookout
• Stop at the Blower Truck just outside of town
• Check out the spaceship from the movie Pitch Black
• See the Dingo Fence, a 5300 km long fence stretching across three states in Australia
• Moon plains with fossilised shells and cracks
• Watch a movie at local Drive In
• Visit Crocodile Harry’s Underground Nest
• Marvel at the Breakaways, part of the Kanku Breakaways Conservation Park and a stunning example of Outback Scenery