Hola… There is always something going on down at Bondi. This morning’s treat was the Sydney Philharmonic Choir singing as we went about our morning rituals. At less than 7 degrees around 6:30am, with frosty offshores, I bet they couldn’t wait to get off the beach. Surf : today is knee to a freak chest […]

Today it’s all about surfing as the waves are pretty good (but the light not so good). This week’s south swell had dissipated and a new, clean, fresh ENE swell arrived switching on joints like The Bra. It’s around head high on sets, predominantly chest high. Winds are offshore, so it’s lining up nicely. My […]

Sorry about the late transmission. No… I haven’t been surfing all morning, even if the waves are the best they’ve been all week long. Finally the winds have swung offshore and the swells are lining up. Bondi at sunrise was very dark with thick cloud cover and a handful of dudes surfing mostly closeouts mixed […]

It all kicked off today with a gold-plated morning around 7:10am. The clouds broke open for a brief moment and the bay was flooded with 24 karat rays. Quite the spectacle. This time of year the light is clean, crisp and gold – my favourite. The sun rises over the Ben Buckler when in its […]

It’s amazing what a difference 24 hours can make. Right now it’s raining and the beach is completely empty. The onshore winds are smashing anything resembling a wave and everyone is off to work. This same SE onshore wind will create swell for the tail end of the week. So be patient, wait for it […]

Over the past two weeks, on my tropical sabbatical, I’ve haven’t worn much more than a pair of boardies. I’m back in Bondi now and this morning had to layer up before venturing out of the house… IT IS FREEZING! It’s only 9 degrees as I write this now. Gotta be snow in ‘dem mountains. […]

We spent 12 days at sea surfing 12 different surf breaks amongst 3 overlapping swells in the Mentawais. We had 7 surfers on board the 47-foot Tengirri catching on average 40-50 waves each per day, sometimes more. Most days we’d surf 3 times on waves no smaller than 3 foot and no bigger than 8 […]

If you ever make your way to this part of the world I am pretty sure you’ll see Lance’s left or right. All boats stop by here for a day or so…kinda like tourist attraction No.1 for the Mentawais. It’s the one of the world’s best rights, machined to perfection offering a high performance tube […]

Just like every other day on this trip we’ve scored good waves and great weather again…it has been pretty special up here this past week…3 swells in 11 days. Can’t ask for more than that. I just spent the afternoon below the surface with my camera, swimming around looking for interesting things to shoot. This […]

We cruised the Tengirri back up the island chain for a change of scenery and came across 5 of the hottest young aerialists competing for a cool 50 grand. Yep, 50 gees to pull off the most rad air whilst on their boat trip to the Mentawais. Chippa Wilson, Jon-Jon, Ryan – they were all […]

Another week and we’re still on the boat in Indonesia. This time we’ve gone to a really remote part of the islands, an area that I’ve never been before. The conditions have to be right before committing to motoring down here – its bit of a drive – but we’ve scored it good, real good. […]

We finished up late at the right to head south to a wave magnet left called Thunders. No one around…at all. Just how we like it! The weather is perfect and the swell continues to produce. I hear another swell is due tomorrow so all the boats are heading to their favourite part of the […]

If you come to the Mentawai Islands you’ll expect to get barreled…you’ve seen all the surf movies and mags…you’re all pumped to dance in the back of a slippery Indo cave. Some waves are easier to get barreled than others up here. This vicious right-hander that we surfed today is easy to get barreled but […]

My mate Paulie and I had this great plan to document the Mentawai Islands from the air. We’ve spent about a year working on this idea, even acquired a remote controlled Octocopter that is large enough to carry one of my pro digi cameras and dragged all the gear up here into remote Indonesia. The […]

We’ve been pretty lucky up here so far. Couldn’t ask for better weather and waves (sorry, I heard it’s pretty ugly back home). The surf has been consistently above head high every day, sometimes bigger and the winds are favourable meaning plenty of options. Today we’re anchored near Tuapajet, the capital of the Mentawai Islands […]

Welcome back to paradise folks… today’s Aquabumps escape is being transmitted off the back of charter boat Tengirri in Indonesia. We’re currently 90 miles off the Sumatran coastline amongst the remote Archipelago of Mentawai that hosts some of the best waves in the world. We’ve been here together quite a few times… Why is it […]

It is the goods out there today…a day to get out of town and go surfing. The sun is shining, the swell is lining up a hell of a lot better than it has been and it’s finally offshore. She’s a little chilly though, so don’t forget your steamer. We have clean 4-5 footers out […]

After two days of roaring winds and wild seas finally it’s calming down out there. It’s still big, but far from good. A handful of locations will be on fire today, mainly out of town. Bondi struggles with these big ones. Especially when the swell is rogue and wobbly as it is now. I saw […]

This must be the 50 year storm that Bodhi (Point Break) has been talking about. Sydney was turned upside down last night. Roofs ripped off, garage doors flying down the street, trees blown over and the emergency services have been working through the night. Even Gould Street Bondi has been closed for 14 hours as […]

All nice’n’neat’n’calm down the beach this morning. Stark contrast to the monster that is about to unleash tomorrow. At 7am today you’ve got waist to shoulder high waves on a fun little bank at Bondi. Bondi likes this size, being small, it won’t handle it tomorrow. The sunrise was a beauty. Real shiner…spraying hues of […]

These winter Mondays are the best. All quiet down the beach…not many people getting outta bed for the early. The line-up was uncrowded and dark with a very late sunrise. Small but fun shoulder high peaks breaking left and right at South Bondi. Super clean surfaces…barely any wind at all. The Volcom Fiji Pro is […]

The waves were and still are quite good this morning. Bondi is lacking banks so a short drive to Maroubra proved fruitful. Waves broke at the D-bowl around shoulder to head high, plenty of hollow ones at sunrise. Another nice peak in the middle of the beach illustrated from the bird above…The swell is dead […]

Today was very similar to the other days of this week…south swell, little bit of wobble, Bondi was no good and closing out, Bronte seemed to have all the action. Small increase in swell today, head high sets for sure. It will fade and another swell will be due on Monday. A little bit warmer […]

Started off a little dark this morning. Small glow on the horizon around 7am throwing out a lil’ colour which was nice. Bronte had a clean little waist to head high bump, Bondi had same-same but absolutely no banks to speak off. So bad. Most waves just closing out before you’d even get to your […]

Very dark morning out there. Couldn’t really shoot any images until at least 7am, which is very late for me. The good news is that under all this grey there are waves in Sydney, 3 footers. Bronte looked cleaner and lining up quite nicely this morning around 7:30am. Barely anyone around. Nice protection from the […]

I am back in Bondi…for a bit…returning from my Indonesian junket. The temperatures have dropped a lot in Sydney whilst I was away. Fresh mornings! If you like surfing 2-3 foot Bondi, alone. Today is for you. Barely anyone surfing and relatively empty beach this morning. Waves weren’t quite lining up perfectly, but worth getting […]

Today’s the last update from Bali (thankfully say some)…we leave here water logged, sun charred and relaxed. The waves haven’t been big over these past two weeks, but still fun. I see the cooler temperatures are starting to creep into Sydney so a Bali escape may be a good idea. Bali at this time of […]

Yesterday we crossed the 2nd deepest water channel in the world, the Lombok Strait, which is 3 kilometers deep in parts. A one-hour speedboat ride from Lembongan Island will take you to one of the most famous, most fickle left-handers in the world…the almighty Desert Point of Lombok. You’ve seen it in mags, in surf […]

Last time we ventured out to the reef the waves had gone small, waist to chest high on very infrequent sets. A good time to rest up, get a few massages and walk around this quirky little town of Lembongan Island. There is a little pulse of swell inbound which will hopefully put on a […]

Good morning. (Selamat Pagi). Lembongan Island hosts a few surf breaks but the best wave is Shipwrecks, a machined right-hander that has a barrel on the right tide, air section (if that’s your flavour) and a fat cuttie section – good combo. It can appear completely flat for most of the day, but on changing […]

Today’s little 30-second escape comes from the blue waters of Nusa Lembongan, a small island that is a short boat ride from Bali. It’s like going back in time here. The villages remain unchanged, unaffected by the nearby mass tourism. There are no cars; just scooters and walking paths…so it’s kinda like an Indonesian version […]

Selamat Pagi. Today’s photo update is coming to you from Seminyak, Bali. A lot of you probably already know this, but if you come to Bali, you will need to spend part of your trip here in Seminyak. The ‘Yak is where all the amazing bars, shopping, beachfront hotels and incredible restaurants are. It’s known […]

Good morning. Sorry about the radio silence and all that. You’ve been deprived of your Aquabumps daily dosage for a few days now and I’ve been getting some knarky emails wondering what is with my disappearance. I am back and I am in Bali. Haven’t been back here for a little while…16 months to be […]

It’s big. Chunky. Wow, what a difference 24hrs can make. As forecasted the solid dead south swell has hit flanked with freezing SW offshores. Coldest morning of the year so far, 3 degrees out west, 7 degrees around the coast. The water remains warm – can you believe it. Bronte had a few bombs, looked […]

Two weeks ago we did a road trip through some of New Zealand’s spectacular beaches with our guide, Kiwi surf legend, Maz Quinn. N-Zed is such a under-rated surf destination with so many good setups, I’ll be back for sure. The photos I took on the roadie were very popular with you all, so I […]

The swell retreated and the ocean has returned to its calm state. Waves broke around your waistline at Bondi this morning, nothing special. The sun was the hero of the morning, again. It’s belting out 25 degrees today – who needs summer with days like these. A new swell should arrive on Sunday, so you […]

Sittin’ behind the office desk this week would have been very distracting with all that is going on outside. Not only is the weather 10 out of 10, but the waves have been pumping. Today it looks like that solid East swell, that has been here all week, is finally subsiding. I found 2 footers […]

This week it looks like our planets are aligning…oh boy, it’s good. To start with the weather is immaculate, sunny, clear and the next three days will soar to 25 degrees. Not bad for this time of year. Ok, she’s a little chilly at the start/ends of the day…but at least the water is a […]

There has been some freaky natural moments going down in the past 24 hours. Let’s start with that super moon last night, wasn’t it huge? Biggest it will be in 25 years. At 6am this morning the sunrise was sprayed red above Sydney. T’was quite the spectacle. And now we have a thumpin’ east swell […]

Nice little setup down there this morning. Clear skies, warm sun and 2 footers. The surf was actually much better than I anticipated. Two distinctive banks were functioning quite well. I was down there for several hours this morning and it looked to be fading as the morning progressed. So I don’t know what would […]