Booking choice: The Explorer's Way hotel tour north, from $1,721 per person. Check dates Tour details
People in Coober Pedy started living underground because of the heat. The town's January average maximum is 36.7°C, and summer days often pass 40°C, but inside the rock the temperature hardly moves. Many residents still live in dugouts, and several motels offer the same experience to visitors.
Here is what a dugout room is really like, which underground stays the tours use, the other options in town, and how to book a night below ground.
The quick answer
Underground rooms stay at a steady temperature in the low 20s all year, with no air conditioning needed. The camping tours sleep in a 5-share underground dorm at Radeka Downunder on the main street. The Explorer's Way hotel tours stay at the Coober Pedy Experience Motel, a former opal mine with 16 underground rooms. In town you can also book the Desert Cave Hotel, Lookout Cave Underground Motel or underground camping at Riba's.
What is it like to sleep underground in Coober Pedy?
Cool, dark and silent. The rock holds a steady temperature in the low 20s, and with the light off there is no light at all.
The first thing you notice is the quiet. No traffic noise reaches you through metres of sandstone, and there is no wind. The second is the dark: a room cut deep into the hill has no window, so when the light goes off the dark is total. If that bothers you, leave the bathroom light on. South Australia's tourism commission describes the rooms as a cool 24 degrees year-round.
The walls are bare sandstone, pale cream to pink, and the temperature is the same at 3am as at 3pm. A small torch for the night is useful: it is on the packing list of the camping tours for a reason.
Why do people live underground in Coober Pedy?
To escape the heat. Summer days often pass 40°C, but dugouts cut into the hills stay at a steady temperature in the low 20s all year.
From the early years of the field, miners cut homes into the hillsides, first by hand and later with machines; Umoona shows a hand-dug and a machine-dug dugout side by side. A dugout needs no air conditioning in summer and little heating in winter, when July nights fall to around 6.3°C. Water came later: the town's first underground water tank was built in 1922, and today water is piped from the Great Artesian Basin.
You can visit dugouts as well as sleep in them. Faye's Underground Home, dug by hand in the early 1960s, opens Monday to Saturday for A$20, and Old Timers Mine shows homes from 1916 and 1960. Our things to do guide lists them all with 2026 prices.
Where do the camping tours sleep underground in Coober Pedy?
At Radeka Downunder on the main street, in a 5-share underground dorm. It is the one night out of six not spent in a swag.
Both 7-day camping tours book the same place: the Adelaide to Uluru tour on night three and the Uluru to Adelaide tour on night four. Radeka Downunder is on the town's main street, with underground rooms at 3.5 m and 6.5 m below the surface, plus a communal kitchen, lounge, games room and laundry, per its South Australian Tourism Commission listing.
On the southbound trip you arrive with free time to explore and find your own dinner; restaurants are a short walk away. The swag nights either side are part of the charm too: "Sleeping in a swag seemed really challenging at first. But it is really true: you get used to it very quickly" (Iris, Feb 2025).
Five nights under the stars and one underground in Coober Pedy, from Adelaide to Uluru with 6 breakfasts, 3 dinners and park fees included. Free cancellation up to 7 days before.
Explore the 7-day camping trip from Adelaide Tour detailsWhere do the Explorer's Way hotel tours stay in Coober Pedy?
At the Coober Pedy Experience Motel, a former opal mine turned into an underground motel in 1990, with 16 underground rooms.
The South Australian Tourism Commission listing says the site was mined for opal from 1918 into the 1960s. Every room has a private ensuite, a queen bed and extra single beds, Wi-Fi, a television and a kitchenette with a bar fridge, microwave, toaster and kettle. There is an underground coffee shop, a laundry and an underground gift shop selling opal and local art.
The Explorer's Way tour north sleeps here on night two, and the Explorer's Way tour south on night five. Meals are not included on these tours, so the kitchenette is handy for breakfast. Both are new listings without reviews yet, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
A room underground at the Coober Pedy Experience Motel, and a bed every night of the trip: the Explorer's Way tour north, free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Check dates for the Explorer's Way hotel tour northWhat other underground hotels are there in Coober Pedy?
The Desert Cave Hotel, the Lookout Cave Underground Motel, underground camping at Riba's, and the underground budget and motel rooms at Radeka Downunder.
Rates below are the ranges on the South Australian Tourism Commission listings, in Australian dollars, and move with the season. Book direct with the property or through your usual hotel site.
| Stay | What it is | Underground? | Listed rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Cave Hotel | 50 rooms, restaurant, bar, pool, tour desk, underground shops | Underground and above-ground rooms | A$170 to A$240 |
| Coober Pedy Experience Motel | Former opal mine, 16 rooms with kitchenettes | All rooms underground | A$175 to A$380 |
| Radeka Downunder | Main-street motel and backpacker rooms | Rooms at 3.5 m and 6.5 m, plus above-ground rooms | A$99 to A$148 |
| Lookout Cave Underground Motel | Rooms cut into the hillside, reaching up to 50 m into the hill | Yes | A$175 to A$350 |
| Riba's Underground Camping | Caravan park on William Creek Road with underground sleeping areas | Underground camping areas | A$8 to A$140 |
Do underground rooms in Coober Pedy need air conditioning?
No. The rock keeps them at a steady temperature in the low 20s, cool in summer and comfortable in winter. Above-ground rooms are air-conditioned.
This is the main reason to choose underground in summer. When it is over 40°C outside, the room is cool without any machine running, and on a winter night it stays warmer than any tent or swag. Radeka Downunder and the Desert Cave Hotel both offer the two kinds of room, so you can compare.
If you get uneasy in enclosed spaces, ask for a room near the entrance or one of the above-ground rooms the same motels offer.
How do you book an underground room in Coober Pedy?
Book early for April to September, the cooler and busiest months. Ask for an underground room by name, check whether the bathroom is shared, and confirm the airport pickup if you fly in.
- Ask for underground: several motels have both kinds of room, and the above-ground ones are sometimes cheaper.
- Check the bathroom: Radeka's deeper budget rooms share bathrooms, its 3.5 m motel rooms have ensuites.
- Sort transport: there are no taxis in Coober Pedy. Radeka Downunder offers a courtesy airport pickup for Rex passengers; elsewhere, ask your hotel.
- Skip the hassle: on a 7-day tour the underground night is booked for you, and the price includes it.
For the tours side by side, see our Coober Pedy tours from Adelaide guide.
Heading south from the Red Centre? The Explorer's Way tour south books your underground motel night in Coober Pedy, free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Check dates for the Explorer's Way hotel tour southIs a night underground in Coober Pedy worth it?
Yes. It is the one thing you cannot do anywhere else, and one night is enough to understand why the town lives below ground.
A single night gives you the full experience: the hush, the total dark, waking up without knowing what time it is. Most visitors on the 7-day tours spend exactly one, and pair it with Old Timers Mine, where you see the old dugout homes the idea came from.
If you want more than one night, fly or drive in and stay two or three, with the Saturday Painted Desert day tour in the middle. Guests who did the camping trip summed up the mix of swags and the underground stop well: "We slept mostly under the stars to get the true outback feeling" (Cliff, Feb 2025).
Seven days from Adelaide with a bed every night, a night in an underground motel, Old Timers Mine, Kings Canyon and Uluru. Meals are paid as you go. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Explore the Explorer's Way hotel tour north Tour detailsFrequently asked questions
What temperature is it underground in Coober Pedy?
A steady temperature in the low 20s all year. South Australia's tourism commission describes underground rooms as a cool 24 degrees year-round.
Where do the tours stay in Coober Pedy?
The camping tours stay in a 5-share underground dorm at Radeka Downunder. The Explorer's Way hotel tours stay at the underground Coober Pedy Experience Motel.
Is the Desert Cave Hotel underground?
Partly. The Desert Cave Hotel has both underground and above-ground rooms, plus underground shops and a bar, on Hutchison Street.
Can you camp underground in Coober Pedy?
Yes. Riba's Underground Camping on William Creek Road has underground sleeping areas as well as caravan and tent sites.
Ready to book
Choose your tour
Free cancellation on every option: Explorer's Way: Adelaide to Alice Springs up to 24 hours before; Adelaide to Uluru: 7-Day Outback Camping Tour up to 7 days before; Explorer's Way: Alice Springs to Adelaide up to 24 hours before. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Explorer's Way: Adelaide to Alice Springs
- Storyteller guide and air-conditioned vehicle
- 5 nights in twin-share rooms, 1 night in a shared dorm
- A night underground at the Coober Pedy Experience Motel
Adelaide to Uluru: 7-Day Outback Camping Tour
- Guide and air-conditioned vehicle from Adelaide to Yulara
- 5 nights in swags, 1 night underground in Coober Pedy
- 6 breakfasts and 3 dinners
Explorer's Way: Alice Springs to Adelaide
Rooms instead of swags, heading south (meals not included)
