5 ms·

My curiosity is getting the better of me, why would you choose the Salton Sea as a vacation destination?

by jdhn 5y ago

lanstin 5y ago
It is the second largest lake in California. I was new to California and just looking for interesting things. My quick googling was clearly insufficient. Tho it was interesting in some sense. Also it’s kind of in the area of the other places that were ok. Tar pits are awesome. Mt Palomar very cool. Las Vegas unique and notable if not actually my cup of tea.
jws 5y ago
Just west of it is Ocotillo Wells. You can rent a quad bike and tour around it for an afternoon. There is a fossil reef (oyster shells), an odd rock formation called the pumpkin patch, some mud with mysterious subterranean gas that bubbles out, and general desert scenery. A little further west is Anza Borrega. More desert, but there is a nice hike through the desert to a palm tree oasis which just sort of pops up out of nowhere. Outside the town are inexplicable (unless you read about it) huge steel sculptures.
dehrmann 5y ago
Historically, it was a pretty popular vacation destination. > In the 1950s and into the 1960s, the communities expanded as the area's reputation as a resort destination and sport fishery grew.[18] Hotels and yacht clubs were built on the shore along with homes and schools.[19] Resorts in communities like Bombay Beach hosted entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby.[20] Yacht clubs held parties at night and golf courses provided recreation.[19] Many people came for boating activities such as water skiing and fishing as stocked fish proliferated.[21] Lakeshore communities grew as vacation homes were built.[15] More than 1.5 million visitors visited annually at the peak.[22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea#Agriculture,_tourism_and_wildlife_proliferate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea#Agriculture,_touris...
- iamnotwhoiam 5y ago
  Was there ever any hope that the environment was sustainable or was it basically a real estate pump and dump? The future could be calculated from a salinity chart and still people bought and sold expensive homes.
  - xeromal 5y ago
    It could've lasted much longer if agriculture runoff hadn't poisoned the lake and killed all the fish. It would've lasted until enough evaporation had taken place to concentrate the salts and kill the fish.
krallja 5y ago
I had my family stop by a few years ago because I had heard about it in a What-If? https://what-if.xkcd.com/152/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/152/ I wouldn't recommend it. The route we took was through a residential area. The neighbors did not seem like they wanted us to be there. We went to the water's edge, smelled the "objectionable," "noxious," "unique," and "pervasive" odor (as described by the US Geological Survey), looked at the shitty beach, and left. There's not much to do.
- MisterTea 5y ago
  That's because it's slum tourism and residents hate being the unwilling cast of a sideshow attraction. "Oh honey, look at the locals inhaling the toxic plume wafting off this mess we can safely leave behind forever in a few minutes. Say cheese!" There's a neighborhood by me which has earned a similar reputation and the residents have been known to tell slum tourists to leave. Its gross. Don't do that.
  - xeromal 5y ago
    Yeah, most people are there because they grew up there and its their home and most of them are too broke to leave. It's pretty gross. If you want to support the locals, go buy a few dates and gas.
  - phlakaton 5y ago
    I disagree. People who don't go to see the Salton Sea and its consequences are free to ignore it. But seeing it will put an likely-indelible memory in your head that will stick with you, and might give you some much-needed context about why people are fighting to do something about it. The key of course, is to travel with respect. Bombay Beach is probably not a place for casual selfies and party times. There is still beauty there, for people who can look past the unpleasant. A state visitor center with the whole wild history of the place. Beaches made out of pulverized tilapia bone and shell. Fields of obsidian. The zonked-out but earnest spirituality of Salvation Mountain. Date shakes from Westmorland. Endless sun.
  - krallja 5y ago
    I agree. I didn’t realize before we made the stop that there were still people living there. It felt gross for all the reasons you describe, plus the Salton air.
Fricken 5y ago
For the same reasons people may enjoy playing Fallout 4.
Exmoor 5y ago
OP replied with their reason, but I personally have visited the Salton Sea numerous times when in southern California. I find it truly fascinating. It has a very post-apocolyptic feel. From an ecological perspective it occupies a very unique niche. It's 90 miles form the nearest ocean and has large populations of oceanic birds such as Brown Pelicans.
- jacobkg 5y ago
  Post apocalyptic is right. When we drove by it we also encountered a number of large ATV groups driving around, mad max style
eplanit 5y ago
For me, it would be because of a great ("great" as in Ed Wood style film-making) movie "The Monster that Challenged the World" (even the title seems low budget). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050722/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050722/ tl;dr "An earthquake in the Salton Sea unleashes a horde of prehistoric mollusk monsters. Discovering the creatures, a Naval officer and several scientists attempt to stop the monsters, but they escape into the canal system of the California's Imperial Valley and terrorize the populace"
- tinus_hn 5y ago
  Fitting in a thread about a documentary narrated by John ‘Pink Flamingoes’ Waters
narrator 5y ago
Nearby Slab City is an interesting place to visit if one is into weird stuff. It's an old abandoned area that was once a military base that people have turned into a very unplanned squatter community. It's notable because there are some impressive community art pieces. The place has managed to avoid accumulating the truly destructive squatter elements (e.g people with severe mental illness or substance abuse problems,though meth is a problem) because it is remote, there are no services, and it is dangerously hot during the summer time. Thus, it's pretty hard to live there without at least a modest RV and some planning, which has made it a bit more inviting and interesting than the usual homeless encampment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- state_less 5y ago
  Slab City is featured in the movie Into The Wild. The movie sends you through many of these out of the way places on Chris’s journey through the North American West.
- api 5y ago
  With Starlink you will be able to have a few real cyberpunk squatters out there. Plenty of solar power too.
  - snypher 5y ago
    $100 bucks a month and 100W power usage might keep it out of most people's hands for a while.
    - stickfigure 5y ago
      That's $200 worth of solar panels? If Starlink and food is your only expense...
  - narrator 5y ago
reitzensteinm 5y ago
My irrational hope is that parent is a GM executive, dragging their family along to the site of future business deals. Like Ludendorff holidaying covertly to the fortifications at Liège in Belgium prior to World War 1. Kids sour faced in the back seats wishing you worked at Disney.

My curiosity is getting the better of me, why would you choose the Salton Sea as a vacation destination?

by jdhn 5y ago

My curiosity is getting the better of me, why would you choose the Salton Sea as a vacation destination?

It is the second largest lake in California. I was new to California and just looking for interesting things. My quick googling was clearly insufficient. Tho it was interesting in some sense. Also it’s kind of in the area of the other places that were ok. Tar pits are awesome. Mt Palomar very cool. Las Vegas unique and notable if not actually my cup of tea.

jws 5y ago

Just west of it is Ocotillo Wells. You can rent a quad bike and tour around it for an afternoon. There is a fossil reef (oyster shells), an odd rock formation called the pumpkin patch, some mud with mysterious subterranean gas that bubbles out, and general desert scenery. A little further west is Anza Borrega. More desert, but there is a nice hike through the desert to a palm tree oasis which just sort of pops up out of nowhere. Outside the town are inexplicable (unless you read about it) huge steel sculptures.

dehrmann 5y ago

Historically, it was a pretty popular vacation destination. > In the 1950s and into the 1960s, the communities expanded as the area's reputation as a resort destination and sport fishery grew.[18] Hotels and yacht clubs were built on the shore along with homes and schools.[19] Resorts in communities like Bombay Beach hosted entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby.[20] Yacht clubs held parties at night and golf courses provided recreation.[19] Many people came for boating activities such as water skiing and fishing as stocked fish proliferated.[21] Lakeshore communities grew as vacation homes were built.[15] More than 1.5 million visitors visited annually at the peak.[22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea#Agriculture,_tourism_and_wildlife_proliferate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea#Agriculture,_touris...

iamnotwhoiam 5y ago
Was there ever any hope that the environment was sustainable or was it basically a real estate pump and dump? The future could be calculated from a salinity chart and still people bought and sold expensive homes.
- xeromal 5y ago
  It could've lasted much longer if agriculture runoff hadn't poisoned the lake and killed all the fish. It would've lasted until enough evaporation had taken place to concentrate the salts and kill the fish.

krallja 5y ago

I had my family stop by a few years ago because I had heard about it in a What-If? https://what-if.xkcd.com/152/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/152/ I wouldn't recommend it. The route we took was through a residential area. The neighbors did not seem like they wanted us to be there. We went to the water's edge, smelled the "objectionable," "noxious," "unique," and "pervasive" odor (as described by the US Geological Survey), looked at the shitty beach, and left. There's not much to do.

MisterTea 5y ago
That's because it's slum tourism and residents hate being the unwilling cast of a sideshow attraction. "Oh honey, look at the locals inhaling the toxic plume wafting off this mess we can safely leave behind forever in a few minutes. Say cheese!" There's a neighborhood by me which has earned a similar reputation and the residents have been known to tell slum tourists to leave. Its gross. Don't do that.
- xeromal 5y ago
  Yeah, most people are there because they grew up there and its their home and most of them are too broke to leave. It's pretty gross. If you want to support the locals, go buy a few dates and gas.
- phlakaton 5y ago
  I disagree. People who don't go to see the Salton Sea and its consequences are free to ignore it. But seeing it will put an likely-indelible memory in your head that will stick with you, and might give you some much-needed context about why people are fighting to do something about it. The key of course, is to travel with respect. Bombay Beach is probably not a place for casual selfies and party times. There is still beauty there, for people who can look past the unpleasant. A state visitor center with the whole wild history of the place. Beaches made out of pulverized tilapia bone and shell. Fields of obsidian. The zonked-out but earnest spirituality of Salvation Mountain. Date shakes from Westmorland. Endless sun.
- krallja 5y ago
  I agree. I didn’t realize before we made the stop that there were still people living there. It felt gross for all the reasons you describe, plus the Salton air.

Fricken 5y ago

For the same reasons people may enjoy playing Fallout 4.

Exmoor 5y ago

OP replied with their reason, but I personally have visited the Salton Sea numerous times when in southern California. I find it truly fascinating. It has a very post-apocolyptic feel. From an ecological perspective it occupies a very unique niche. It's 90 miles form the nearest ocean and has large populations of oceanic birds such as Brown Pelicans.

jacobkg 5y ago
Post apocalyptic is right. When we drove by it we also encountered a number of large ATV groups driving around, mad max style

eplanit 5y ago

For me, it would be because of a great ("great" as in Ed Wood style film-making) movie "The Monster that Challenged the World" (even the title seems low budget). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050722/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050722/ tl;dr "An earthquake in the Salton Sea unleashes a horde of prehistoric mollusk monsters. Discovering the creatures, a Naval officer and several scientists attempt to stop the monsters, but they escape into the canal system of the California's Imperial Valley and terrorize the populace"

tinus_hn 5y ago
Fitting in a thread about a documentary narrated by John ‘Pink Flamingoes’ Waters

narrator 5y ago

Nearby Slab City is an interesting place to visit if one is into weird stuff. It's an old abandoned area that was once a military base that people have turned into a very unplanned squatter community. It's notable because there are some impressive community art pieces. The place has managed to avoid accumulating the truly destructive squatter elements (e.g people with severe mental illness or substance abuse problems,though meth is a problem) because it is remote, there are no services, and it is dangerously hot during the summer time. Thus, it's pretty hard to live there without at least a modest RV and some planning, which has made it a bit more inviting and interesting than the usual homeless encampment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
state_less 5y ago
Slab City is featured in the movie Into The Wild. The movie sends you through many of these out of the way places on Chris’s journey through the North American West.
api 5y ago
With Starlink you will be able to have a few real cyberpunk squatters out there. Plenty of solar power too.
- snypher 5y ago
  $100 bucks a month and 100W power usage might keep it out of most people's hands for a while.
  - stickfigure 5y ago
    That's $200 worth of solar panels? If Starlink and food is your only expense...
- narrator 5y ago

reitzensteinm 5y ago

My irrational hope is that parent is a GM executive, dragging their family along to the site of future business deals. Like Ludendorff holidaying covertly to the fortifications at Liège in Belgium prior to World War 1. Kids sour faced in the back seats wishing you worked at Disney.