The best place to check out a working excavation is Tom's, 2km southwest of town: miners continue their search for the big vein; visitors noodle for small fortunes. Self-guided tours run any time between 8am and 5pm and cost $15 per adult, $8 per child. Closed Sundays October to February.
Tom's Working Opal Mine
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.27 MILES
Check out this amazing leftover prop from the film Pitch Black, which has crash-landed on Hutchison St (a minor Millennium Falcon?). Intricate, creative,…
1.5 MILES
This interesting warren of tunnels was mined in 1916, and then hidden by the miners. The mine was rediscovered in 1968 when excavations for a dugout home…
3.75 MILES
As seen in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, this wildly eccentric underground abode was once home to Arvid Blumenthal, a Latvian-born runaway (quite possibly a…
Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park
11.4 MILES
The Breakaways Reserve is a stark but colourful area of arid hills, mesas and scarps 32km north from Coober Pedy along a rough road − turn off the highway…
1.29 MILES
For a terrific introduction to Coober Pedy – including history, fossils, desert habitats, Aboriginal culture, ecology and mining – take a wander through…
1.57 MILES
Faye’s was hand dug by three women in the 1960s – an exercise in persistence, to say the least. It's now a time-warp museum and a window into life in…
2 MILES
This is the town's largest and most impressive underground church, with intricate rock-wall carvings and a gorgeous vaulted ceiling. It's about 3km east…
Catholic Church of St Peter & St Paul
1.12 MILES
Coober Pedy's first underground church still has a sweet appeal, with statue-filled nooks and hushed classical music.
Nearby attractions
0.82 MILES
Perpetuating small-town Australia's established tradition of building 'big' objects to attract the tourists (banana, crayfish, pineapple etc), Coober Pedy…
2. Coober Pedy's First Cemetery
1.08 MILES
Next to Coober Pedy's improbably quaint Greek Orthodox Church, with its wrought-iron bell tower, this dusty plot began when James Conly became the town's…
3. Catholic Church of St Peter & St Paul
1.12 MILES
Coober Pedy's first underground church still has a sweet appeal, with statue-filled nooks and hushed classical music.
1.27 MILES
Check out this amazing leftover prop from the film Pitch Black, which has crash-landed on Hutchison St (a minor Millennium Falcon?). Intricate, creative,…
1.29 MILES
For a terrific introduction to Coober Pedy – including history, fossils, desert habitats, Aboriginal culture, ecology and mining – take a wander through…
1.42 MILES
You can't miss the Big Winch with its big dangling bucket, from which there are sweeping views over the Coober Pedy rooftops. A planned 'world-class…
1.5 MILES
This interesting warren of tunnels was mined in 1916, and then hidden by the miners. The mine was rediscovered in 1968 when excavations for a dugout home…
1.57 MILES
Faye’s was hand dug by three women in the 1960s – an exercise in persistence, to say the least. It's now a time-warp museum and a window into life in…