The town of Coober Pedy is often referred to as the “opal capital of the world” because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Located in the remote South Australian desert, where temperatures reach 125 °F / 51 °C, this small mining town with a population of 2,000 is also famous for its underground residences (“dugouts”).
Coober Pedy was founded in 1915, but only in the 1980s the town became known around the world. In 1981, a local named Umberto Coro realized the earning potential that this sleepy, underground settlement held, so he built the town’s first hotel.