Bombay Beach is a small community of about 300 permanent residents that sits on eastern shore of the Salton Sea. Our community is diverse, with members of different socio-economic backgrounds, along with many ethnicities, and at all stages of life from young children to senior citizens. Some home owners are permanent residents, while others maintain vacation homes here. In the winter our population swells as people come to spend the season in the temperate desert weather.

Bombay Beach has had a troubled- at times traumatic- past. The sea that once presented an existential threat of catastrophic floods is now slowly drying up- and with it the recreational opportunities that brought people to Bombay Beach in the first place. As houses were abandoned, squatters moved in and criminal activity rose. Our community has weathered these and other challenges. If anything, our community has become stronger for them.

Whereas most Californians once turned their back to the Salton Sea and Bombay Beach, we’re now getting the world’s attention. Many internationally recognized artists have taken up residence here, and the town hosts happenings that attract creatives and thinkers from every corner of the globe.

While many visitors come to Bombay Beach to experience the art that can be found throughout our town, we hope that they leave with a sense of our community as a whole. As other communities experience more floods and droughts driven by climate change, they may find inspiration in the story of a community that has been through both and come out thriving. Through our struggles, we’ve shown how a community can take pride in its past while looking toward a very different future.