The Greyhound is a cutout in an abandoned building
For the first time in my nomad life, I was going to be caravanning with a group to our next destination. Up until now, I had always joined a group in progress, or had people come to a spot I’d picked out. We were thinking of camping at Slab City, which I felt was better in a group of known friends. However on the way there we discovered an intriguing spot we just had to camp at. It even had water (of a sort) nearby. Read on to see what we found!
Mecca 99-cent store
The day started with resupply at Walmart, then a rendezvous at Mecca. While I can say I’ve been to Mecca now, it certainly was not a religious pilgrimage. We continued south, coming to the Salton Sea. I was asked if the Salton Sea is natural. No, it’s not, except when it is. The natural lake dried up in the 1700s as the Colorado River diverted away from the lake area. Under normal circumstances, eventually the silt of the river would pile up enough that the river would divert, creating the lake again, cycling over hundreds to thousands of years.
Salton Sea foamy shoreline
The most recent natural Lake Cahuilla was six times larger than the current Salton sea, as the whole Colorado River emptied into it and then exited south to the Gulf of California. The ancient water body was a lake, as plenty of fresh water flushed through to keep the salinity down. The current Salton Sea was formed starting in 1905 from a breach of a canal coming from the Colorado River, that got so bad the whole river was diverted into what became the Salton Sea over two years. Talk about a folly! Once fixed, the sea continued its existence thanks to farming releasing its unused water downstream of rapidly expanding fields south of the sea area. The water is a sea, as it is salty, picking up salts from agricultural soils and not so nice salts from fertilizers. The sea can’t flush out these salts, as water only evaporates from the Salton Sea, there is no water exit for the current body of water.
Bales to protect new plantings near the water, erosion control
Original colors like this in this good condition are rare
We arrived at Bombay Beach, what was once a resort town on the shore of the Salton Sea. Now, it is an eclectic mix of abandoned, burned, graffitied, buildings, with some nice stuff thrown in randomly to boot! The town was a popular destination starting in the 1950s as the Salton Sea was great for water sports at that time. But by the 1970s, run off from irrigation was increasing the salinity to levels that would kill off the fish by the 1980s and make any other water activities highly inadvisable. The waters running into the sea were not controlled well either, leading to either flooding of the town, or drought that would leave exposed lake bed with toxic salts that could be blown around. Not to mention the stink of rotting fish. What started out as a good idea to have a resort town by the sea, turned into a folly of flood damage, and later toxic dust storms.
Random scene. Art, or garbage?
Of course the town declined in population with its best asset now being its worst nightmare. People just walked away from property as no one was buying. But not everyone left. Mostly older people attached to the town, often too poor to move stayed on. In recent times, the area has attracted artists who ‘decorated’ the buildings, and started putting art installations out on the now extensive beach thanks to the receding waters. Tourists started coming to see the abandoned buildings, many transformed by graffiti and art works. Which leaves use today with what is a not quite abandoned town, mixed with abandoned and not so abandoned buildings.
The caravan has arrived at Bombay
We were in a informal parking area surrounded by a couple of berms separating us from the beach proper. The group of us had the area to ourselves. It seemed like it might be an idea to stay here a while and explore, rather than continuing onto Slab City, our original destination. The beauty of full time RV travel is being able to change plans on a whim – this seemed like a good whim to go with.
Art, spaced.
We setup camp and proceeded to wander to what passes for a beach here. It really is more of a silty shoreline, better left where it lays. But walking along the berm we see ahead art installations, receding off into the distance. It’s not like the area is jam packed – but there is a lot of art over a lot of space, so some walking is required to explore all of them.
Re in car nation
The forms of art varied, but the theme of one persons junk is another persons treasure predominated. Even the harsh mid day light left room for some contrasts in the wild shapes of the different art forms. But I made mental note of several pieces I’d come back to photograph in the morning light to capture a different contrast. The problem here as a photographer is that there is so much to photograph, unusual subjects to boot. I certainly had my brain exercised trying to pick out the better bits to isolate into a rectangle of light, shadow, and color. Even so, I did not know that some of the displays lit up at night – I could have brought a tripod for some long exposures and gotten yet another perspective on the scene. I’m going to just display a bunch of photos now, they can speak for the rest of the beach walk. I’ve named some of them, but mostly names I came up with, not the artist’s creation name.
Well that’s something
 Lights up at night |
 Sheet metal bird on a 2×4 |
 Sadie and the Swing |
 You have mail |
 Mail has you |
 2023 Monolith |
 Monolith visitors |
|
 Jones Lithium |
 Love is in the Air |
 Golden Fountain |
 Morning mail |
 Porch view |
|
 Sea Wrath |
 Art in the Eye of the Sun |
 Poser |
 Old seawall decorated |
Interior art on art
If all you do coming to Bombay Beach is stop at the Salton Sea and walk around the art on the beach, you will have missed the meat of the town. The art on the beach is interesting, but the town has an organic decay and rejuvenation that makes it just as interesting as the beach in my opinion. I both walked it and drove through with my Grom. You’ll see less if you only drive down the street – some of the installations need to be explored to discover the hidden interesting bits.
Happenstance, but the proportions scream art
That brings up an intriguing point about this town – it is not abandoned – some of these places are occupied. The state of repair ranges from nice to falling down. The problem is, the line between falling down occupied and falling down abandoned is not obvious. Nor is it always obvious if something is art, vandalism, or happenstance. I took the line of if it is not signed, or cordoned off, I was free to explore it. Most of the obviously occupied properties had signs so this seemed like a reasonable middle ground. But keep in mind, you are likely on private property and abandoned buildings can be dangerous.
Color filtered desolation
The part of town closest to the water seems to be mostly abandoned buildings mixed with art works. I’m guessing flooding did more damage here and thus more buildings were left to the elements. As you get back a couple of blocks, more regular buildings of good repair appear, mixed in with the occasional art display lot. Walking the whole town would take quite a while, and you still probably won’t see everything. I walked only the part closest to the beach and drove with the motorcycle down the back blocks. I certainly did not see everything. I know this from seeing what my caravanning friends found exploring on their own, there was more undiscovered treasure I never saw myself. Check out the following videos: Carolyn’s RV Life , who found so much stuff she had to do a part 2 video. There is also My Basic Journey, That RV Over There, and Riley Does Life. I’m semi famous now. You can’t help but be in the video when you are travelling with a bunch of YouTubers.
Creepy wire doll
There is definitely a creepy vibe to some of the art displays, while others are just whimsical. A lotta WTF is thrown in for good measure. It certainly was entertaining for me at least. Some would not see past the garbage and the decrepit state of the area, but decay and transformation of that decay fascinate me. My photo collection is huge, even with restraining myself somewhat on what I was shooting while there. I guess it’s a good problem, except when you’re trying to finish a blog entry. So again, I’ll continue with a spew of more photos I took around town.
 Bombay Beach TVs |
 COVID was a big theme on the TVs |
 Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving |
 Maybe the rain just fails to fill your soul |
 Elephant Chapeau |
 Definitely new art. Note the background scenes |
 Part of a mannequins display |
 Possible only here |
 Mock archaeology dig. Some people are going to be fooled and think this is ‘real’ history |
 Mock dig. There are even information boards with the fake history of the area detailed. |
Ski Inn signs
I’ll end with a review of the Ski Inn, which can not go without mention when talking about Bombay Beach. We went for a celebration of my birthday, an unusual occurrence for me. Not too many dive bars have a Wikipedia entry, which you’ll note the link above goes to. That is because this place is at least somewhat famous.
A famous chef was here once, whomever he is.
The larger outdoor seating area
Salton sea is 236 feet below sea level. The bar takes this and plays it as the “lowest bar in the western hemisphere” at 223 feet below sea level. I can certainly say I went to a low down bar that night, ba dum, tss! The place oozes historic charm, having been the social center of town for many years. You will notice the dollar bills plastered everywhere, with names and sayings scrawled on them. Evidently this is a long time tradition here. A few stars of some note have visited here and the place has been used for some TV shows. It has been reviewed by a ton of media, far and wide. The indoor area is not that big, but the outside area is huge. We plunked ourselves down outside in a somewhat sheltered area as it looked like a small storm squall was going to pass through, nothing huge, but a bit of rain and wind for a few minutes.
This Lonesome Paradise band
The band of the evening had the same idea, and was moving from the regular stage in the larger open area to a smaller spot under our sheltered area. It turned out we had a front row seat for This Lonesome Paradise, the live entertainment of the evening. I was dreading this at first, as most bands play things too loud to the point of distortion. But these guys knew what they were doing and had excellent sound that wasn’t going to make you deaf. I ended up getting the CD – I was so impressed with their music.
Joey thought the food smelled good too
The food was good, I had the charbroiled chicken sandwich, which did taste like proper charbroil. The fries were decent too, with an excellent pie for dessert. Overall, the food is a cut above what you’d expect in a dive bar, proper homemade stuff! The place has been run by the same husband and wife owners forever, although from what I can see Wendall has passed away recently so the wife Jane now runs it with some help. I can only hope this place keeps going on into the the next generation, it is truly unique and worth a stop, even if just passing Bombay Beach.
That about wraps up my visit to Bombay Beach. It certainly exceeded my expectations – I will return someday, assuming the weather cooperates again to let me be there when it is not too windy. Who knows what Bombay Beach will be like next time? While I am gone, the decay and renewal will continue on. I can’t help but feel we hit it at its peak of interesting without being ruined by fame. Time will tell.
While I was in Bombay Beach, I took a side trip with my Grom over to Slab City, a destination no nomad can miss. It has some similarities to Bombay Beach, but has its own unique vibe too. Join me next time, as I take the Grom to the Slabs!
