If you live in Southern California, you’ve heard of the Salton Sea, that way below sea level, once-glamorous resort turned dead-fish landscape, out in the middle of the desert. But if you did a little deeper, it seems like there might be something to see: a free-wheeling artist community that has sprung up in the ruins of former glory. There are art installations on the beach and crazy houses turned into large-scale art pieces and then there’s Salvation Mountain and whispers of more art and life if you venture east of the sea.

All in all, it seemed worth a day trip.

Mecca as a jumping off point

Mecca, California (about two hours east of Los Angeles) sits right above the north shore of the Salton Sea, only about 20 minutes from the Salton Sea recreation center. Mecca also happens to be the jumping off point for the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon hike, which actually made up the first part of my day trip. Not a lot going on in Mecca proper, but it’s very centrally located.

Bombay Beach: Former resort to the stars

The current version Salton Sea formed accidentally when an an irrigation canal flooded back in 1905 and the water filled what had been called the Salton Basin or Salton Sink (there were likely a variety of lakes or seas in the spot over the years).

The low elevation (over 200 feet below sea level) and the high salinity, made the water ideal for boating, especially boat racing. And boat racing records put the sea on the map. From the 1920s to the 1960s, the Salton Sea was a popular vacation destination, including for Hollywood stars and the town of Bombay Beach grew up as a resort town.

Bombay Beach’s fall and possible revivial

Unfortunately, the Salton Sea has no outlet, so it loses water only through evaporation. It is also fed primarily through agricultural run-off (chemicals and all). So, over time, the sea has become increasingly saline and increasingly poisonous to fish, leading fish die-offs (and also bird poisonings), terrible smells, toxic dust storms… everything that will quickly remove a report town from the map. After a series of storms destroyed the marina and some resorts in the 1970s, Bombay Beach, which had already been in decline, became a ghost town. (There are some efforts to revive the sea now, as it is an important wildlife spot).

Although there’s still only a very small permanent population (a few hundred people?) Bombay Beach seems to be undergoing a revivial of sorts. Artists have a huge presence in the tiny town (a grid of about 8 blocks by 4 blocks). Some folks have turned their homes and trailers into art installations. Others have taken over abandoned buildings and plots to create truly interesting, punny, smart, and creative work. Other artists stick to the beach where structures (some that seem to be permanent, others that seem ever evolving) dot the sands. The area has been found to contain a great deal of Lithium and artists have been holding annual events and the government seems to be interested in revitalizing the area. So, Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea may yet evolve again. But for now the ruined nature of it makes Bombay Beach a fascinating place to drive/walk through.

Visiting Bombay Beach

From the moment you get to Bombay Beach, you know that it’s going to be interesting. A booth right at the start of town both greets and warns you.

A few yards down a set of mobile homes and RVs and bright blue gravel create a sea-like landscape, and then a funky building called the Ski Inn looks like it serves food and has some cars parked in front of it (I was in the market for lunch and, as it turns out, this is pretty much the only spot to eat in town!).

I keep driving, looping around the town, driving between the berm that separates the town from the sea and the town streets. There are a few people about (some on bikes, others on scooters), but very few cars and it doesn’t look like there’s much that is “open for business.”

That said, it’s interesting! There are old ruins of beach houses, covered in graffiti, bright with characters and punny statements. In the distance I see a giant next with an egg in it (the whole structure perched on someone’s roof!). On a corner there’s a sign that says “Museum of Bombay Beach.” This lot also contains a bunch of RVs, but I can’t tell if it’s open to the public or not. This is what I struggle with: where can I go? What can I see?

I double back to the Ski Inn for lunch.

Lunch at the Ski Inn and chatting with dogs

The Ski Inn is a funky old place, one I might not enter if I had other options. Inside, there are some arcade games and a pool table, and dollars pinned to all the walls and ceiling. Typical old west kind of dive bar. Ordered a burger and tater tots and went to sit on the patio (which was lovely).

As is my happy, I greeted the dog members of a couple of folks at another table as I left. And, then I just went for it and asked them the question I could not figure out the answer to: Where do I park to walk around?

They kind of laughed. It was a dumb question. The streets are basically empty. But it’s not like there’s parking meters, or sidewalks and everything seems like pulling up to someone’s home. Plus, isn’t there stuff on the beach? The signs by the berms say no parking.

Turns out, at Avenue E, you can drive through the berm and right onto the beach. And, you can drive around a lot of the art on the beach (you’re allowed to drive wherever, it seems, but I’d recommend sticking to the asphalt and really hard packed sand). I parked and walked.

Beach art at Bombay Beach

On the beach, there are exhibits that I’ve seen in other posts, others that seemed brand-new. Others are falling into ruin and still others being being built right now. It’s like a living art installation, open to visitors and all manner of interpretation.

I parked up near the lemonade stand (just over the berms at Avenue E). From there it was an easy walk to the beach and I walked a a big loop to take in most of the installations. I did drive a bit too, to see the things farther out. I stuck very close to the packed, well-traveled paths. Several people driving around out here: seems totally sanctioned.

Walking along the beach, I loved being able to walk up to and sometimes into the art.

Some of the art, like the ship contained a bio of the artist and a QR code. I thought I’d snagged a photo of that for the ship, but I guess I didn’t.

The sea is quite pretty from a distance. It only gets sketchy as you get closer. When I was there, it didn’t smell bad at all, but given all I’d read, I didn’t really want to test the waters. In the end, this next picture perfectly captured the Bombay Beach vibe.

Exploring the Town of Bombay Beach

Once I finished at the beach, I drove back over the berm to explore the town. Now that I had a bit more confidence, I pulled the car to the side of the road and got out to explore. First stop was the old beach houses.

I was a little leery of walking through and into old buildings, thinking that there might be people sleeping (in L.A., people would definitely be sleeping in these buildings!). But, mostly I just found evidence that people had either partied there or, more likely, created some kind of art installation (some online exploration confirms that a lot of the tinsel I saw was, indeed, part of a former art installation).

Then I headed around the corner to find the installation of the woman I had met at the Ski Inn. The house was painted black (including a “keep out” sign that she told me to ignore). She’d asked me specifically to look at the floor (black ooze and glitter!) but I liked the words on the walls the best. (Thanks, Jennifer Korsen @humansmakeart).

The front room was the art. The back rooms largely contained the trash no doubt left in the house and tossed back there to make room. Once I got home, I found an Instagram Reel of what the house looked like on performance night, but while on site, it was left to my imagination.

My favorite bits of Bombay Beach art

So now, I drove boldly, pulling over to see the coolest of the installations. There are so many, but here are some of my favorites.

I love the TV house. It’s such a dilemma to know what to do with old TVs and this was just so pretty and impactful. I also love that at the edges of the installation, there are TVs where the artist wrote “No more TVs please.” One can only upcycle so much.

The Bombay Beach Drive-Thru is also really clever. What a great way to park and present old cars and movie seats and Ferris wheel cars.

The Salton Civilization Archaeological Site is probably my absolute favorite. So clever. It has all the trappings of a dig and all the whimsy of Bombay Beach.

And finally, just for fun Angler House, because I was excited to find it and recognize it and that I was brave enough to open the door on a house that looked like it could be occupied (maybe it is in the back!).

Bombay Beach is not all art. The art is scattered among homes and RVs and empty plots. While many homes, like the nest house, have art in or around the houses or yard, some are just homes (some with perfectly manicured succulent yards, others with many car parts in the drive). The residents seems to take people like me, just driving around, in stride.

Leaving Bombay Beach

You can’t leave Bombay Beach without noting the other side of the kiosk at the entrance:

With art on the mind, I head out to the next stage of my Salton Sea journey: East Jesus and Salvation Mountain. I go out ambivalent about whether I should go to Slab City, but that is the story for the next post.