The complete field guide
Things To Do in Coober Pedy
The complete directory of things to do in Coober Pedy - attractions, opal mines, eateries, places to stay, tours and day trips.
Browse everything Coober Pedy has to offer. Use the filters, open the map, or start with a ready-made itinerary.
63 places in the guide
Map view
Shopping services2 Minute Noodlers
A handy all-in-one stop: car, e-bike and motorbike hire, coin laundry, car wash, hairdresser and a curiosities & oddities shop.
Day tripsAndamooka
Coober Pedy's smaller sister opal town - a ramshackle, characterful field about 5½ hours away by road, famous for matrix opal and pioneer dugouts.
Open field note
EventsAnzac Day Parade & Dawn Service
Coober Pedy's Anzac Day dawn service and community parade, held on 25 April each year.
Open field note
EateriesBig Winch 360 Café & Bar
Café and bar at the Big Winch lookout with the best sunset views in town.
- Good with kids
AccommodationBIG4 Stuart Range Outback Resort
Holiday park with cabins, powered sites, a pool, camp kitchen and an on-site pizzeria.
- Good with kids
AttractionsBoot Hill Cemetery
Coober Pedy's main cemetery - a moving, very Coober Pedy place where miners of dozens of nationalities lie, including the famous beer-can headstone.
Open field note
AttractionsCatacomb 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
AttractionsCoober Pedy Croatian Club
The social heart of Coober Pedy's large Croatian mining community - the Croatian Welfare & Sports Club, part of what makes this such a multicultural town.
Open field note
AttractionsCoober Pedy Drive-In Cinema
A classic 1965 outback drive-in - the only one still running in South Australia.
- Good with kids
AttractionsCoober Pedy First Cemetery
The town's original burial ground, used from the early 1920s - the resting place of some of the very first people to live and die on the opal fields.
Open field note
EventsCoober Pedy Gem Trade Show
An annual gem and opal trade show - a highlight for collectors, buyers and opal lovers.
Open field note
EssentialsCoober Pedy Hospital
The town's hospital for emergency and general care. In an emergency call 000.
- Accessible
AttractionsCoober Pedy Italian Club
A warm, volunteer-run miners' club since 1964 - hearty Italian meals, a beer garden with sunset views and walls full of opal-field history. Visitors welcome.
EventsCoober Pedy Opal Festival
The town's biggest weekend - live music, fireworks, speedway and drive-in movies, held each year.
Open field note
AttractionsCoober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club
Golf on a course with no grass - oiled-sand greens, a strip of mat, and a reciprocal arrangement with St Andrews.
Open field note
AttractionsCoober Pedy Oval parkrun
A free, weekly 5km run, jog or walk every Saturday morning at the Coober Pedy Oval - dogs and visitors welcome.
- Free
- Good with kids
EssentialsCoober Pedy Police Station
South Australia Police station serving Coober Pedy. Emergencies: 000. Non-urgent: 131 444.
- Accessible
Shopping servicesCoober Pedy Post Office
Australia Post outlet for mail, parcels and bill payments.
- Accessible
EventsCoober Pedy Races & Gymkhana
The annual outback race meet and gymkhana at the Coober Pedy racecourse - a classic desert race day.
Open field note
EateriesCoober Pedy RSL
The local RSL club - open Sunday evenings for dinner and a drink at the bar.
Open field note
EventsCoober Pedy Speedway
Dirt-track speedway racing under the outback sky - a great local night out during the season.
Open field note
Shopping servicesCoober Pedy Supermarket (IGA)
The main grocery store for self-caterers and road-trippers stocking up.
- Accessible
EssentialsCoober Pedy Visitor Information Centre
Start here - maps, tours, Breakaways park passes, noodling info and local advice.
- Free
- Accessible
AttractionsCrocodile Harry's Dugout
The wonderfully eccentric underground home of a former croc hunter - a Mad Max filming location.
- Underground
AccommodationDesert Cave Hotel
Iconic underground hotel on Hutchison Street with rooms cut into the rock, a café, bar, pool and opal display.
- Good with kids
- Underground
AccommodationDown to Erth B&B
Boutique underground bed & breakfast offering a true private dugout stay.
- Underground
AttractionsFaye's Underground Home
A hand-dug underground home famous for being excavated by three women - with an underground pool.
- Underground
AccommodationFree Camping in Coober Pedy
Two free camps for self-sufficient travellers - the donation-run RV camp at Old Timers Mine, and the bare-bones paddock off Kempe Road just out of town.
- Free
Shopping servicesFuel & Service Stations
Fill up in town before long outback drives - the next fuel can be hours away.
AttractionsGeocaching in Coober Pedy
Yes, the global treasure hunt reaches the opal fields - including an EarthCache at the Big Winch lookout that teaches you how opal forms.
- Free
- Good with kids
EventsGreat Kanku-Breakaways Marathon
An annual marathon, half, fun-run and ultra (plus cycling) through the spectacular Kanku-Breakaways - a community fundraiser.
Open field note
EateriesGreek Hall - Friday Greek BBQ
Authentic Greek BBQ every Friday night at the Greek Hall - a Coober Pedy community institution.
Open field note
EateriesJohn's Pizza Bar & Restaurant
Multi-award-winning, family-run pizza and pasta institution - home of the legendary 'Coat of Arms' pizza.
- Good with kids
AttractionsJosephine's Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage
Aboriginal art gallery and kangaroo orphanage where you can meet rescued joeys - feeding at 12pm and 5:30pm.
- Good with kids
- Accessible
Day tripsKanku-Breakaways Conservation Park
Stunning Aboriginal-owned tablelands and colourful hills, 30 min north - unmissable at sunrise or sunset.
- Good with kids
AttractionsKupi Gliding
Coober Pedy's volunteer gliding club - soar engine-free over the opal fields and gibber plains in some of the clearest, most thermal-rich air in the country.
Day tripsManguri Siding
The remote rail siding 42km west of town where The Ghan stops - your chance to glimpse the legendary outback train on its run between Adelaide and Darwin.
Open field note
Day tripsMoon Plain
A vast, lunar gibber-stone desert used as a film location - utterly otherworldly.
- Free
AttractionsOld Timers Mine
Hand-dug 1916 opal mine turned museum, with an original underground home and self-guided tours.
- Good with kids
- Underground
AccommodationOpal Inn Hotel, Motel & Caravan Park
Central pub with a bistro and saloon bar, plus hotel, motel and caravan-park accommodation.
- Good with kids
Opal miningOpal Shops on Hutchison Street
The main street is lined with opal showrooms and cutters selling stones straight from the fields.
- Accessible
EateriesOutback Bar & Grill
All-day bar and grill on the main street - breakfast, lunch and dinner with pizza, grills and pub favourites.
- Good with kids
ToursOutback Mail Run Tour
A legendary full-day mail-delivery tour along the Oodnadatta Track with Bruce Ross, the Outback Mail Man.
Open field note
Day tripsPainted Desert (Arckaringa Hills)
Remote, multi-coloured hills about 2.5 hours away - a spectacular 4WD-friendly day trip.
Open field note
Opal miningPublic Noodling Area
Free, beginner-friendly fossicking on Jeweller's Shop Road - sift the mullock heaps by hand and keep any opal you find. Open 24/7.
- Free
- Good with kids
AccommodationRadeka Downunder Motel & Backpackers
Central underground motel and backpacker rooms - recently under new ownership with exciting changes underway.
- Underground
AccommodationRiba's Underground Camping & Caravan Park
The world's first underground camping - pitch a tent in a mine, plus sites and a nightly mine tour.
- Good with kids
- Underground
Opal miningRock Hounding & Fossicking
Beyond opal - the country around Coober Pedy turns up gypsum crystals, jasper, ironstone and more. Here's what to look for and how to fossick legally.
Open field note
AttractionsSerbian Orthodox Church of St Elijah
The largest underground church in town - 17m below ground, with carved rock walls and stained glass.
- Free
- Underground
AttractionsSt Peter & Paul's Catholic Church
An underground Catholic church carved into the rock - completing Coober Pedy's trio of dugout churches.
- Free
- Underground
AttractionsStargazing in Coober Pedy
Some of the darkest skies in Australia - the Milky Way, the Southern Cross and two naked-eye galaxies, best seen a short drive out of town.
- Free
- Good with kids
AttractionsThe Big Winch Scenic Lookout
Coober Pedy's highest point - 360° town views, a café and the famous Big Winch sculpture.
- Free
- Good with kids
Day tripsThe Dog Fence (Dingo Fence)
See a stretch of the world's longest fence - 5,600km built to keep dingoes from the south-east.
- Free
Day tripsThe Eight Mile Opal Field
The rich historic opal field north of town where the world's most valuable opal was found - quirky sculptures, old diggings and a scattering of people still living out there.
Open field note
AccommodationThe Lookout Cave Underground Motel
Underground motel rooms and dugout apartments carved up to 25 metres into the sandstone.
- Good with kids
- Underground
AccommodationThe Mud Hut Motel
Above-ground motel with ground-floor rooms and apartments - easy access and parking at the door.
- Good with kids
- Accessible
AttractionsThe Spaceship (Pitch Black Prop)
A film prop spaceship from the movie Pitch Black, parked in town - a fun free photo stop.
- Free
- Good with kids
AccommodationThe Underground Motel
Quiet underground motel on the edge of town with Breakaways views and a guest kitchen.
- Underground
Opal miningTom's Working Opal Mine
Guided tours of a genuine working opal mine, with a free noodling pit, scones and barista coffee.
- Good with kids
- Underground
AttractionsUmoona 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.
- Good with kids
- Underground
Opal miningUnearthing Opal Experience
Hands-on opal mining adventures with Dan Measey from TV's Outback Opal Hunters - day and night sessions.
Open field note
Day tripsWilliam Creek
One of Australia's smallest towns - a historic pub on the Oodnadatta Track and the gateway to Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, about 167km east of Coober Pedy.
Open field note
ToursWrightsair Scenic Flights
Daily scenic flights over the opal fields, the Breakaways and Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre - the Outback's flight specialists.
Open field note
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