6 things you may not know about the Mentawais (where I am right now): In 1983 the archipelago of Mentawai was discovered as a surfing destination by salvage diver, west Aussie, Martin Daly. The first wave he surfed was Debuts, at the most southern tip of the islands (coincidently where we just slept the night). […]

I’ve been out to the Mentawais 17 times now on these boats. Why? The surf is amazing. Full stop. For consistency and diversity of waves, I can’t think of another destination that compares. Admittedly, it’s not for every surfer, most waves are breaking on sharp shallow reefs and offer dreamy tubes…but it can get dangerous […]

We’re up in the Mentawais, a group of islands off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Plenty of swell and the islands have been lighting up. After surfing 7 different breaks in 48 hours we opted for a slow session at a beach break away from the crowds. It turned on nicely. No official name for […]

I’d like to talk about all the amazing things I witnessed down the beach this morning. That the waves were proper pumping, the light was incredible and how I couldn’t stop taking photographs. Unfortunately that’s not gonna happen… it was a vanilla onshore kinda morning with very little highlights for us to discuss. In fact […]

On paper, we’ve got all the right ingredients for a great surf day. Offshore grooming winds, 4-5 foot south swells, sunshine…quieter Autumn crowds…so why aren’t I frothing? I just can’t seem to find anything pumping around ‘ere. The swell seems a little random, and junkie. The early morning high tides are fatting up any workable […]

We have a 16-second, chunky south swell in town today. It’s come up a lot overnight. Bondi wasn’t really handling it (no surprises there) but if you have a hunt around you’ll find something. Protected corners are the better options. Winds remain perfectly west – great for a lot of surf spots in Sydney. The […]

Crispy clean autumn morning. The horizon was clear of cloud so first light at Bronte was incredibly gold! A welcome sight. Maximum of 22 degrees today. There is a head high south swell in town coupled with favourable west winds. West winds are always cold but best for Sydney surfing. Swell is on the way […]

Real quiet morning down at Bondi Beach Australia. I think the cold mornings put many off. Even the hardcore regulars were absent. Small closeouts on offer – not really anything substantial to write about. It will double in size by tonight – now that is exciting. Thank you for donating to our SurfAid Cup team, we […]

It’s a lot cleaner today than yesterday and looking fun. It’s not exactly pumping, but I would say you’d find a few gems. Swell is hanging in there and breaking around head high at most beaches of the east. The sunshine is out and it’s here to stay for nearly 1 week. SO GOOD. It […]

There was a promise of good waves this morning but I think the early onshores ruined the show. By 1st light, the Southerly has junkified most 3-4 footers at Bondi. Only a few hellmen paddled out – it looked terrible! Today is the last day you’ll hear me asking for a donation to my Aquabumps Surfaid […]

It’s affirmative, green light. Swell is big and the winds are offshore.  The seas still need to settle as this morning was pretty random, rogue & raw. Somewhere would be pumping right now, I am not convinced the Eastern Suburbs is the pick of the spots…drive! The water is colder and I’ve just received my […]

There’s a storm in town and it’s been running amuck. Plenty of rain yesterday and the south swell machine is on today. Waves are around 4-6 foot at Bondi. It would be a helluva lot bigger if the swell wasn’t so south, kinda sneaking past Sydney. Tomorrow and Wednesday have the swell direction tweaking a bit […]

One word…cold! Temperatures plummet as we head into a cold weekend. This storm will bring in a big south swell on Sunday/Monday. Boom! Summer is officially over and fond memories of those baking hot beach days slip into the horizon. It sure was a hot one. Watch this short film made entirely on my phone. […]

Yes, another cracker sunrise for this week – our third. Makes my job a helluva lot easier when the skies are ablaze with colour – basically, I can point my camera in any direction and shoot – and the images come up trumps.  For those non-morning people, we only usually get one cracker sunrise per […]

Bondi is doing it’s best impersonation of Noosa Points at the moment. It’s great if longboarding is your thing. On a shallow bank, there is a very slow peeling knee to chest high wave. It’s offshore so the surfaces are clean and the sunshine is being very kind to us. Sound good? Well, keep reading, […]

Bondi Beach was looking like St. Tropez at sunrise with a 32-metre superyacht ‘Mohasuwei’ in the bay. Why were we graced with a superyacht this morning? Bill Gates was in town and heard sunrises at Bondi are best. The Royal Commission wanted to check out the bank situation at Bondi Beach, first hand. A Mentawai […]

Cold out, warm in. Monday’s are the quietest mornings. Very few people snuck down there for the early. Waves? yeah-nah. More nah this morning but more yeah later today when a new swell starts to file in. I’ve been sending out this beach-picture-email-thingie for over 19 years now, if you love it, surely your mates do […]

I was rustling around in the dark thinking the skies could light up into hot pinks at any moment this morning. Cloud formations were showing promise. I waited. I waited. Fiddled with my phone. Chatted to some morning swimmers. I waited. It never came! This morning was coated in darkness until 9 am. A tough morning […]

Perfect morning for a swim, wasn’t it? Even though it was chilly when you woke, a submerge into the Pacific proved very fruitful, very invigorating! Last year around this time we had 76 days of sunshine in a row – will this happen again? The swell has dropped out, and only 1+ footers remain.  There […]

It’s only just gone 8am as I write this post, around my 6,000th update to Aquabumps. Even though this could be one of the earliest posts (ever), today, I already witnessed a random Grim Reaper on the beach (@iamtheswimreaper), an incredible sunrise, lots of nude people (dunno, just happened to be a few down there), […]

What a day. A day to be treasured. Grooming offshore breezes lined up 2-4 footers down at Bondi. It was a cold one on land, first time I’ve worn a steamer in 2018 but the water was surprising bath-like. Go get some. Thanks to all the readers that came to the Aperture Photographic Conference on the […]

Sorry about disappearing on you like that. It’s schoolies, and we’re spending some time out of Bondi. Y’know, teach the groms to do reos and recharge. The weather has been volatile, sunny one minute, raining the next. The change of seasons is here. This weekend I will be talking at the Aperture Photography Conference in Sydney. […]

This week’s south swell is actually hanging in there. Just. Waves are breaking in the 2-3 foot range and a grooming NW offshore is making for super clean conditions at Bondi. It’s still breaking very straight, shutting down, barely giving you an opportunity to get to your feet. Hell, it’s Friday with plenty of sunshine, […]

I can remember when I started shooting Bondi daily (nearly 20 years ago), people would go “Why would you want to shoot Bondi every day…?” Take a look at the clarity of the water in the above shot, the colour of water…that’s why and it’s so close to an urban centre. How could I not? […]

Today was a pretty stock standard morning down at Bondi. We had some colour at sunrise, albeit brief. The onshore winds are persisting and are ruining your surfing options. Swell is from the south and showing 3-4 footers at Bondaka. Crowd levels low. It looks like the weather has finally reached Autumn levels; cooler mornings […]

Rain, what is that? Haven’t seen it around these parts for quite some time. After a dry windy weekend, your gardens are loving it. The great news is that the swell has jacked right up. A south swell with plenty of wonk and in the 3-4 range. Yesterday ended up being a cracker windless autumn […]

A perfect Bondi morning with 1-2 footers and ultra-clean conditions. After a very windy weekend, we’ve now got a trickle of new south swell. It should get bigger as the day progresses. Head high by nightfall. Light winds all day. Get outside. :: uge

We have had a fantastic run of golden light, every morning and evening this week. The weather just couldn’t get any better. It’s great to see huge crowds after work enjoying the fantastic Autumn conditions. The surf looks smaller and fat. I wasn’t that excited about it all… Go swim. In August I’m heading back […]

On paper today had all the makings of a great surf day for Bondi. At first dawn inspection, it looked great. But the reality was something else. I blame the high tide of 5:33 am which put heaps of backwash and wonk into it. Most waves shut down, but there are still plenty of overhead […]

Game on. Before you drop everything and sprint away from your office desk, hear me out. Swell has cranked right up overnight and from the SE. Winds are perfectly offshore. It’s breaking in the 3-5 foot range, but it’s pretty hard work at Bondi, and very fickle with the tide. Lots of closeouts but some […]

After a late cooling southerly we now have clouds and waves. A little bit of swell was kicked up overnight. I saw the odd shoulder high wave however it did appear a little weak, limping into the beach. Huge morning crowd out wishing we had yesterdays weather on repeat. Seeyouselater. :: uge

For kicks, today I swam out with my first ever lens – the Canon fisheye. I can’t believe I still have it after 20 years. It’s missing a few pieces but still, it works after 100,000s of frames shot and thousands of hours in the ocean. I can remember saving up for 12 months to buy […]

Another stunning Autumn day with sun, waves and warm water. I trust you’re enjoying it. It’s muggy but a treat. Go swim or surf. Over 19 years of pumping out these morning shots I’ve received some really touching emails, this one I just received was quite exceptional, so I thought I’d share: Hi Eugene, I […]

Sunny, light winds, 27 degrees. Put the out of office on and hit the beach. Waves, yeah them too, saw a few waist to shoulder high sets. Plenty of crew skipping work for a paddle. We’ve currently raised $3,804.48 for SurfAid, our main charity here at Aquabumps. Our target this year is $20,000. I would like […]

The clouds have covered Sydney and the nemesis onshore winds persist. I doubt anything decent will be surfable, anywhere…so take it easy and wait for Bells to come back on. Tomorrow should be a much nicer day for the beach in Sydney. Adios :: ugios

We’re in the cooling part of the cycle where the winds blow, the skies grey and everyone is back at work. How was your Easter? Amazing weather and a few decent waves to be ridden. Hope you scored over the break. The tail end of this week looks great for surfers (and beachgoers). Get some […]

Bondi has tiny surf but big ticks in every other department…no wind, warm water, sunshine. 28 degrees today, that’s a beach day. Brand new NE swell inbound and should arrive tonight folks. Have a great Easter, we’re are closed tomorrow on Good Friday, but open Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday! Hard working mob aren’t we? […]

There is a little wave on, it’s only 2-3 foot…but very junkie and tide affected (fat). It was a 6:30 am high tide so I imagine it will improve at the tide draws out. The water is still very warm whilst the autumn air temps are slipping down. The Aquabumps Gallery Bondi is closed on […]

The ladies of Bondi were out in force this morning dominating the peak. It’s always a fun (noisier) vibe when the girls are out. They do love their team waves! Good sharers. A band spanking new south swell has arrived in town, and Bondi loves it. I was surprised to see set waves in the […]

We’ve got a full-blown Nor-east swell in Sydney so you’ll barely see anything show up at South facing Bondi Beach. Bondi fancies a south swell. Around the corner, at Tamarama, there were some fat lumps that broke earlier today, but Tama hates the high tide – and it’s really a mal wave when it’s full. […]