Collection
Underground Coober Pedy
The whole point of Coober Pedy — sleep, pray, shop and explore below ground, where it's a cool 23°C while the desert bakes above.
More than half of Coober Pedy lives underground, in “dugouts” carved into the sandstone to escape the brutal surface heat — and it’s the town’s single most extraordinary feature. You can sleep in an underground motel, stand in an underground church, browse an underground opal shop and tour an original miner’s dugout, all staying a constant ~23°C while it’s 45°C up top. Here’s everything below the surface.
- Accommodation
Desert Cave Hotel
Iconic underground hotel on Hutchison Street with rooms cut into the rock, a café, bar, pool and opal display.
- Kid-friendly
- Underground
- Accommodation
Radeka Downunder Motel & Backpackers
Central underground motel and backpacker rooms — recently under new ownership with exciting changes underway.
- Underground
- Attractions
St Peter & Paul's Catholic Church
An underground Catholic church carved into the rock — completing Coober Pedy's trio of dugout churches.
- Free
- Underground
- Accommodation
The Lookout Cave Underground Motel
Underground motel rooms and dugout apartments carved up to 25 metres into the sandstone.
- Kid-friendly
- Underground
- Opal mining
Tom's Working Opal Mine
Guided tours of a genuine working opal mine, with a free noodling pit, scones and barista coffee.
- Kid-friendly
- Underground
- Attractions
Umoona Opal Mine & Museum
Walk through a real underground mine, a free museum and a preserved dugout home — Coober Pedy's biggest attraction and a perfect first stop.
- Kid-friendly
- Underground
- Attractions
Catacomb Church (Anglican)
A cross-shaped underground church cut from sandstone in 1977, with fittings made from mulga wood and an old miner's winch.
- Free
- Underground
- Attractions
Crocodile Harry's Dugout
The wonderfully eccentric underground home of a former croc hunter — a Mad Max filming location.
- Underground
- Accommodation
Down to Erth B&B
Boutique underground bed & breakfast offering a true private dugout stay.
- Underground
- Attractions
Faye's Underground Home
A hand-dug underground home famous for being excavated by three women — with an underground pool.
- Underground
- Attractions
Old Timers Mine
Hand-dug 1916 opal mine turned museum, with an original underground home and self-guided tours.
- Kid-friendly
- Underground
- Accommodation
Riba's Underground Camping & Caravan Park
The world's first underground camping — pitch a tent in a mine, plus sites and a nightly mine tour.
- Kid-friendly
- Underground
- Attractions
Serbian Orthodox Church of St Elijah
The largest underground church in town — 17m below ground, with carved rock walls and stained glass.
- Free
- Underground
- Accommodation
The Underground Motel
Quiet underground motel on the edge of town with Breakaways views and a guest kitchen.
- Underground