It’s rare for the ocean to go quiet here, especially in June (peak season), but it happens. Even when the waves go to sleep, you can still find these freak spots that draw everything from the ocean and still break over head high. The problem is that every camp, dug out, and charter joins the […]

Strangely, ‘The Boogeyman’ that monster who supposedly lives in children’s bedrooms, could have begun life as a pirate…a pirate from Indonesia! The Bugis are Indonesian people from Sulawesi who were bandits of the sea, feared by many along the spice routes in the 17th-19th centuries. So when you hear “Beware of The Boogeyman”, they could […]

The Indonesian archipelago of Mentawais (‘Ments’) consists of 70 islands, but four larger islands dominate the landscape. The wave-rich area lines the outside of Sumatra and cops the full brunt of swells from the south. June, July, and August are typically peak seasons with the biggest waves of the year, but so far, we’ve only […]

I know, I know, it’s been a while between posts. I’ve been on the move and migrated north to the warm oceans of Indonesia. They’ve had a great run of swell up here for the early season, and it’s been very well documented on socials. We’re a few days into our journey through the islands, […]

Oh wow, it was a cold morning (and still is). The wind chill was bringing it right down. As we approach winter solstice, the sun rises very late, I’m waiting around tapping my foot for most of the morning. Waves are bigger but not better. No one surfing Bondi says it all. Showers are due […]

It’s gone from a glorious winter sunny morning to cold and overcast. The wind has arrived and is letting rip in Sydney, circa 25-30 knots. Forecasts reveal a steep increase in swell, from 1ft to 8ft overnight. That is quite exciting. Everyone loves a big tanking swell. I saw heaps of whales splashing around just […]

It was a comedy of errors that made me miss a glorious Bondi sunrise today. I felt like a fumbling amateur getting to the beach 10-15mins late. Considering I’ve only done this approximately 6,000 times, you’d think I’d have this sunrise shooting thing on lock! Hahah. Sorry, tomorrow I’ll be up at 5 am, tripod […]

The swell just keeps giving, day in and day out. Today, there are high waves under partly cloudy skies. Light winds currently before a decent chunk of rain. A top of 18 degrees, cooler and typical of this time of year. Aquabumps is 25 years old this year and we’re in the process of rebranding, […]

After a very dark, cloudy morning, at around 7 a.m., we were blasted with red light rays – it was spectacular and unexpected. Light is everything, freshening up my regular subject – Bondi. Coincentently, the waves were cooking this morning. Multiple peaks hosted 3-4 footers at sunrise. Everyone was on for hump day, scores of […]

It’s incredible what a difference 24 hours makes in the ocean. Yesterday, it was unsurfable and thundering into the bay, bouncing off the back walls. Today, it’s completely dropped off and only 3 foot – how good! Nice clean offshores grooming the multiple Bondi peaks. Large crowds up early, tackling the cooler mornings. It will […]

It’s huge. I saw three surfers paddle out at North Bondi, weaving in between sets, to try to score a wave at South Bondi without success. There’s just so much going on out there, water moving everywhere you’d need a ski to fling you, I reckon. Wait for it to calm down. How big? Well, […]