Another crazy onshore unsurfable day at Bondi Beach. Swell has picked up but it’s been blown to bits. Warning: this email’s content may make you want to jump on a plane tonight and travel. Over’n’out :: uge

Today’s storm was giving me a bit of a hard time on my morning dawdle. The rain was intermittent, winds were howling onshore 20-30 knots. The beach was pretty empty – the surf was terrible. It will be like this for a couple of days so hang in there and be productive. If there is […]

You have to admit, we’ve had an excellent run of weather and waves around Bondi lately. Be thankful. This week is a little different, and it all begins with today. The south wind is here. Onshore. Half’a foot. Super windy. Winds will pick up tonight and blow a gale overnight. This wind will hang around […]

When it’s hot Bondi turns into a wacky place. People just seem to get a little too excited. Yesterday the beach was rammed as it baked into the night. When the sun sets the pubs fill and the party starts. As an early riser, I see the aftermath the next day. The ones that pushed […]

It’s much cooler, greyer and onshore this morning. That’s cool. It was a hot one yesterday. There are still fun waves on offer, head high, bumpy and random – but you will find some treasure. Well done Julian Wilson and Lakey Peterson who won at Goldie in some pretty spectacular conditions yesterday. I bet your […]

Geez, the waves turned on yesterday. It’s slowed right down today, but it’s still surfable. Beautiful sun filled morning with the enormous crew out for the early. Boogies, Mals, hungry short boarders – and yep, our resident foil boarder were all out – ready to send you to hospital. 4 per wave, leggies tangled…the full […]

It’s very rare for Bondi to have decent sized waves that are not closing out. Normally anything over head high dumps with limited options. Overnight we got a major swell increase and there are waves in the 3-5 foot range. I feel like it’s slowed down a lot at 11:30 am from what I saw […]

Incredibly dark morning…didn’t think it was even shootable until 7:30 am. The ISO was fully cranked. It’s onshore, 3 foot and surfable (and empty). Swell will kick up later today, but the onshores will continue. Watch the Quiky Pro Day 3 instead. :: uge

It was a massive weekend in Bondi for waves, sun, crowds, antics and activations.  Waves – all weekend we had super fun waves, but the swell has gone baby gone now. Sun – yesterday was a cracker beach day, hope you got some. Felt like peak summer heat. Crowds/Antics – my gosh, Bondi was a […]

It was a dark morning as we head into Autumn late rises. The cloud filled horizon didn’t help. A slither, a gap, a hole in the sky created around 15 minutes of fruitful image capture down at Bondi Beach. There are waves this morning. Well, it’ ain’t Teahupoo, but you can surf a wave waist […]

Lagoons form around islands like Moorea as the volcanic landmass subsides into the ocean (over millions of years), leaving a coral outer ring – hence creating beautiful lagoons. It’s a slow but very fruitful process. The lagoons are full of marine life and sheltered from the pumping swells on the outer reefs. Moorea gets a […]

Maeva to Moorea. This mind-blowing aquatic paradise is a short 30-minute ferry ride from the Tahitian capital of Papeete. The colours are crazy. You’d really like it here. The water is warm, clear, and ultra inviting. The vibe extremely mellow. The scenery is truly amazing with huge volcanic peaks towering over the beaches. It’s only […]

When you mention the word ‘Teahupoo’ it puts fear into the minds of every surfer. It is the heaviest wave in the world full stop. You’ve all seen the photos of death slabs draining off the shallow reef. It’s your worst nightmare or a heavenly utopia to a rare few. The name ‘Teahupo’o’ loosely translates to […]

After our brief intermission with wintery conditions, we’re back on track with a warm summery morning. It’s still a bit onshore and a tad junkie, but the shorey had some fun punchy little wedges around shoulder high. Uncrowded as well. Today I’m heading to Teahupoo as a small swell is about to hit there. No, […]

I shot one lousy photograph of Bondi this morning. It’s 100% onshore, pouring with rain, and 2-3 foot. Oh, what a mess! A gruesome beach day. Surely you’ve got some work to catch up on; I assume you surfed your brains out on that last swell. Today’s beach inspiration comes from my recent trip to […]

I get this comment a lot “Those pink skies, you photoshop them in, don’t you?” said standing in my gallery, on a grey day around 12 pm when there is no chance of seeing any colour down the beach. Now, why would I do that when I can just wake up early and shoot a pic. It’s […]

I was a little shocked to see good (ok, maybe just surfable) waves down at our beaches this morning. Hell, even Bondi had a wave that was not just a shorey. Has the sand finally moved? Don’t get too excited…still, plenty of bank making required. Waves are definitely over head high. The winds are much lighter, […]

Probably not my most memorable morning of shooting Bondi Beach. Completely blown out surf with 30 knots tearing it apart. The beach was empty and just one surfer out. What you need to know: There should be swell all week Winds will be lighter tomorrow, but still onshore. Thursday is the first clean offshore/crosshore day of […]

Well…that was a massive weekend around Bondi Beach. So much going on I don’t quite know where to start. Bowl-a-rama filled most of the south end whilst a wandering shark evacuated the beach yesterday at 8am. The weather was incredible and a rogue NE swell arrived, from TC Gita. Bondi and Tama had some average waves, […]

After a waveless summer, we have something decent to talk about. The much-hyped tropical cyclone Gita is pushing down some swell. Bondi was unsurfable…but East or North facing beaches had a head high wave this morning – which should get better and bigger all weekend. Super clean conditions at sunrise, which now have some SE winds […]

I was in Manly again today…sniffing around looking for something different to shoot. It is very different over there. The beach faces a completely different angle to Bondi. Manly likes a north swell where Bondi loves a south swell. Manly is a big beach (1.4km long) and usually has banks as the drain pipes create irregular […]

Bondi’s skies blew pink hues for Valentine’s Day today. Really warm and muggy morning – waveless. I am talking as flat as Bondi could possibly be. Fellas, here is a few last minute gift ideas: Our Bondi Beach Aquabumps Gallery has a whole pile of stuff to give her (from $35), we’re open until 6 pm […]

You’ve heard me mention the dire situation of our Bondi sandbanks for surfers… well… I was hoping the Bulldozers would come south and throw us a bone – no such luck. The Dozer work completed on North Bondi has seemed to make the shoreline even steeper (if that is possible) – what that means for swimmers […]

It’s been a testing time to be a surfer in Bondi. The sandbanks could not possibly be any worse. Even with swell, we can’t seem to get a wave to break in a decent fashion. High tide it seems to push right up onto the shoreline and dump, right on the dry sand. On low […]

When it’s hot I don’t sleep much. Rolling down the beach at 6 am I don’t think many of you sleep either. Bondi was alive this morning with people going mad on exercise, swimming, surfing, SUPing, fishing…it’s on. Did I say surfing? To clarify, it’s tiny…and the banks remain dysfunctional. The Bulldozers are powering all […]

We’re lucky to live in Sydney. Don’t take my word for it, watch Will Smith’s latest Vlog on Youtube, recently shot in Sydney (watch it around 4:30 when Aquabumps Gallery features with The Fresh Prince). That talked-up south swell did dribble in last night but by morning was all gone. One hit wonder. This morning one bank […]

Usually when there is a 13 second, 3-4 foot south swell and offshore winds I have some fantastic waves to shoot. The forecast was a dud – a nonevent – didn’t happen. I can hear the crowd booing, cars are being over turned on the streets and riot police on high alert. What happened? Where […]

I drifted over the hill to Tamarama this morning in search of better waves. I found some rideable waist to chest high waves on offer, nothing really breaking that impressively. The sunrise was worth celebrating with a colour spray of pink, only for a second, then fading into the greys. If you follow me on […]

The ocean was very blue this morning. Clarity was good, but the water temp. = exceptional. The waves weren’t so fantastic at Bondi (would be much better at beaches with sandbanks and more east exposure). I didn’t really see anything worth surfing at all even though we had clean calm conditions. Tomorrow arvo the swell […]

Today is a case of ‘should-a-got-up-early’. Looking out the window as I type this, it’s grey and gloomy. At 6 am we had a few brightly coloured clouds and plenty of nice light to shoot. The waves were not crash hot, mainly due to the absence of sandbanks and a incompatible mid tide. I feel the […]

I’ve always wanted to shoot surfing in France. It’s on my list. They say waves break there, very close to shore and hollow. I guess Bondi is doing it’s best summer impersonation of France today with a very hollow, abrupt shorey. It’s 3-4 foot, chunky, bumpy, lumpy, junky…but hollow. With the big tides and a full […]

As predicted the south storm is here. Swell has come up but it’s howling onshore now. Bondi was a mess and the banks are completely non-existent, so I didn’t see anything surfable. Wait until this storm passes…pray for better banks! On this photogenically challenged day, I thought it would be grand to show you some […]

Another morning of fantastic conditions down the beach – for a swim that is. Surfers you will need to look at NE exposed breaks like Maroubra, Tama (on the low tide) or Manly. Bondi continues to neglect the tiny bumps coming from the North. Enjoy today, as an aggressive 30 knot south change is arriving later […]

Call off the search; I’m back on the tools today.  Countless emails of “Has the internet broken? Where’s my Aquabumps update” or “You’ve removed me from your mailing list…what did I do wrong? I need a beach fix” Haha. It’s me, not you. I took a fair chunk of January off shooting/posting…to refresh the eyes […]

It’s 8:30 am and this could be the earliest Aquabumps daily email ever sent. I’ve already swam for 1.5 hours and shot plenty for you. Bondi has some today. The swell is still alive and kicking, Bondi was breaking far out the back but I was more focused on the violet, abrupt shorey opportunities. It was […]

Like to surf? Yeah? Well, the past 6 weeks have been flat as. Real frustrating summer dribbles for days on end. Today has broken that swell drought and we have great waves! World No. 16 Ace Buchan dropped by for some pre-tour warm-ups. It’s dropping fast, 4-5 foot, East winds now (was offshore earlier). Hate travelling […]

These chunky swells are a little frustrating around the eastern suburbs. Even though it’s dropped considerably overnight (still 4-6 foot), the wild oceans just don’t break how we want ’em until its smaller, cleaner. Sheltered nooks like Manly should have something to shred… I know a few places out of town that would be cooking […]

Oh man, it’s been windy. Wind is good, wind creates waves. When this wind dissipates there will be decent (clean) surf for us to talk about. At the moment it’s very wild out there. So wild I reckon your board would blow clean out of your hands before it even got to the water. Sheltered beaches […]

It’s true, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (A.K.A Will Smith) has been hanging around Bondi Beach over the weekend and loving it. The highly energised actor ran from Bronte to Bondi, enjoyed a meal at Porch then popped into the Aquabumps Gallery to check out our artworks. A very down to earth, positive human being… […]

My fascination for the ocean begun in Perth, it’s where I was born. Rottnest Island is an island just offshore from Perth. It’s actually the main reason why Perth city doesn’t have great waves as it acts as a swell barrier for the city. This is why you need to drive down south (Margs) or […]