Coober Pedy - "Opal Capital of the World"

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Where is Coober Pedy ? The opal mining town is located in remote dessert areas of South Australia. But you get there quite easily on the Stuart Highway which is a bitumen road. The town is located 850 kilometres north of Adelaide. Another name for Coober Pedy is “Opal capital of the World”. It is the place where 90% of the world’s opal productions come from. The town lives on the mining industry as well as on tourism. The name Coober Pedy is related to the Aboriginal word “kupa piti” and means in a broadest sense “white men in a hole”. Today people from 45 different nations search for opal in Coober Pedy.
The town has a real Australian Outback character. The surrounding area looks like being on the moon but there are lots of things to discover.

On my trip to Coober Pedy I had a look to Tom’s Working Mine – the place is located next to Stuart Highway. That was also a great experience. The tour guide - a tough Aussie girl – explained absolutely everything and people cold try different features of the mine.

Firstly we had a look into a drill hole. It is estimated that you find around two million drill holes around Coober Pedy. Most holes are not secured and a great danger. That’s why you find big warning signs in and around Coober Pedy. Usually you enter the mine via these drill holes with a winch. But we walk down a more comfortable way made by a tunnelling machine. We get to a level of 13 metre below the surface – in average opal mining can go down to 30 metres.

The land for a mine is called a claim and you need to register. Then the miner gets four posts with a label and these posts have to be placed in every corner of the claim.

We get a demonstration how to find the best places for opals. Our tour guide walks through the mining tunnel with two brass rods divining for opal which occurs in cracks in the bedrock. 80% of the production is low quality opal called potch. Miners need a very good eye to search for opal. Especially when they use the rotating tunnelling machine it needs their full attention. Blasting the earth away is also a common way of opal mining. The dirt gets to the surface by a big blower which is actually a huge vacuum cleaner. Above the ground the blower forms giant molehills which are typical for the landscape around Coober Pedy.

By air
Coober Pedy’s air connection is operated by Rex Regional Express. The route is between Adelaide and Coober Pedy. Flights depart from Monday to Friday and on Sundays.

More details under Rex Regional Express


By car
The “Opal Capital of the World” is easily accessible on a bitumen road (Stuart Highway). The distance between Adelaide in the south and Coober Pedy is 850 kilometres. Alice Springs is located 686 kilometres north of Coober Pedy.
There are also connections via gravel road to William Creek (162 km) and Oodnadatta (187 km) which are two settlements along the Oodnadatta Track.


By coach
Greyhound Pioneer runs a daily coach service from Adelaide and Alice Springs.

Departure in Adelaide: 6pm
Arrival in Coober Pedy: 5.15am
Departure in Coober Pedy: 5.50am
Arrival in Alice Springs: 2.30pm

Departure in Alice Springs: 10.30am
Arrival in Coober Pedy: 6.30pm
Departure in Coober Pedy: 7.25pm
Arrival in Adelaide: 6.25am

See Greyhound Pioneer website for more details

By train
Another option is to travel by train to Coober Pedy. The legendary Ghan runs from Adelaide via Alice Springs to Darwin. The train stop is Manguri Station 47 kilometres west of Coober Pedy. You must prearrange your transport from the station to Coober Pedy, otherwise the train will not stop at Manguri.

For more information see the website of Great Southern Railways.

Coober Pedy is definitely a very hot place in summer. The top day temperature can be up to 40 degrees Celsius and even higher. The best time of the year to travel to the “Opal Capital of the World” is between April and October. See climate chart below for details. Temperatures rounded to nearest degree.

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