Discover the Ghost Town on the Shores of California’s Salton Sea

Described by some as a post-apocalyptic nightmare, Bombay Beach is a shell of its former self and an ecological disaster zone that once attracted film stars and mega-bands. Let’s discover the ghost town on the shores of California’s Salton Sea, what happened to this once thriving area, and find out if anyone still lives there.

Bombay Beach: Salton Sea’s Ghost Town

In South California’s Sonoran Desert, Bombay Beach runs the length of the Salton Sea’s eastern shoreline. It sits at the very southern end of the San Andreas Fault, basking in the sunshine at 223 feet below sea level. It’s actually the lowest-elevation community in the United States.

From the 1950s, Bombay Beach was a paradise desert-oasis resort frequented by The Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra. Along the shores, houses, boat ramps, and a yacht club sprang up to take advantage of its half-million affluent holidaymakers, anglers, and new residents. Plans were made to build a city of profitable housing and businesses nearby.

But all that came to a shuddering halt in the 1980s.

Why Is Bombay Beach a Ghost Town?

The Salton Sea is a lake created in 1905 when a levee on the Colorado River spilled its banks and filled an ancient basin called the Salton Sink. Over the next few years, the desert’s Salton Sea grew to 400 square miles, topped up by agricultural overflow. This unintentional act led to the Colorado River’s Hoover Dam.

This newly created water source was filled with sport fish by California’s Department of Fish and Game, and thousands of migratory birds flocked to take advantage of the water and well-stocked fish.

However, in the 1970s, agricultural runoff increased the salt levels of the water. With no outlet and no freshwater inflow, it killed the fish and created large algal blooms, which killed many of the 400 resident and migratory bird species. Residents left because the stench of sulfur and dying fish was unbearable. But more was to come. Hurricane Kathleen decimated shoreline businesses and homes on the southern side in 1976. People evacuated and didn’t go back, many homes were simply left to rot on the salty, dead fish-laden shore.

When the residents left, businesses closed, and Bombay Beach quietly but swiftly emptied, with abandoned houses and furniture left behind with petrified fish. Those few that remained behind couldn’t afford to leave.

Bombay Beach Today

Toxic chemicals fill the Salton Sea, and its evaporating waters smell bad. It’s not a holiday resort now, and less than 230 mainly elderly folks remain live in its ruins. Few visitors take the time to visit. Occasional filmmakers use Bombay Beach to capture a post-apocalyptic dead zone, and photographers snap desolate images. Perhaps the most modern use of Bombay Beach is in Grand Theft Auto V, which used this ghost town as inspiration for Sandy Shores and dubious Trevor’s location.

However, over the past few years, artists have started to fill the spaces that were once packed with tourists and homeowners. Many large-scale sculptures and art installations stand where homes and boats once gleamed. In 2015, artists founded the annual Bombay Beach Biennale. This spectacle turns abandoned homes into grand-scale artistic installations.

So, is Bombay Beach on California’s Salton Sea a ghost town? Some folks call it a living ghost town. In reality, the sea is poisoned. It’s an ecological disaster zone that scientists predict will only support bacteria in coming years, but the shores attract quirky folks keen to express their artistic side.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Josh Cornish/Shutterstock.com