AOC Australian Opal Tour 2026
21 - 30 September 2026
This unforgettable tour is designed for those with a thirst for firsthand knowledge about Australian opal! It is a unique opportunity to experience the opal and major opal fields of Australia. See black opal in New South Wales, boulder opal in Queensland, and crystal and light opal in South Australia, with the people who know it best.
The AOC’s 2024 Australian Opal Tour was a stunning success, receiving rave reviews from tour participants from Australia, the United Kingdom and the US. The AOC Australian Opal Tour 2026 promises to be exceptional!
Enjoy outback landscapes and opal mining communities and feast your eyes on incredible opal gemstones and opalised fossils. Meet opal miners, cutters, gemmologists and palaeontologists.
This special tour hosted by the Australian Opal Centre (AOC) will depart from Sydney and includes charter aircraft, ground tours, meals and accommodation.
Stage 1 of the incredible new Australian Opal Centre facility is currently under construction, destined to become a world hub for opal knowledge, training, science, art and culture. It will celebrate Australia’s National Gemstone and be filled with astonishing treasures from the earth and the stories of the people who found them. AOC Australian Opal Tour participants will be given special insights into this architecturally significant, partly subterranean facility.
This epic tour is only possible by having a sufficient participants to charter the aircraft needed to cover the vast distances between our outback opal fields.
Costs are currently being finalised. The tour price will be posted here once confirmed.
For additional information or to request a registration form when they become available, please email register@australianopalcentre.com.
Places are strictly limited.
ITINERARY
Monday 21 September Evening meet and greet in Sydney NSW
Tuesday 22 September Fly Sydney to Lightning Ridge NSW
Wednesday 23 September Lightning Ridge and surrounding opal fields
Thursday 24 September Lightning Ridge and surrounding opal fields
Friday 25 September Fly Lightning Ridge to Winton Qld
Saturday 26 September Winton opal fields
Sunday 27 September Fly Winton to Coober Pedy SA
Monday 28 September Coober Pedy opal fields
Tuesday 29 September Fly Coober Pedy to Andamooka SA; visit the opal fields
Wednesday 30 September Fly Andamooka to Sydney NSW
Every endeavour will be made to adhere to the proposed timetable. If circumstances outside our control, such as weather, cause any activities to change, there will be fun alternatives.
Email register@australianopalcentre.com to receive more information as tour details are finalised. Places are strictly limited and participants will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.