Bondi lines, 7am

Muted

I spoke to a visitor from Manila this morning, Aaron. He’s like, “Bondi’s hectic, can everyone calm down!” Hahaha. To me, it was dead quiet this morning. Mondays always are. People gotta work! Well, Mondays, at least. Tourists are starting to come back to Bondi, and I think this summer is going to be a […]

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Sculptures is back! Wang Shugang's (I think) work.

Groms and Sculptures

I don’t recall a time in my decades of shooting Bondi that so many youngsters are going hard, day in and day out. Not just saying that as a couple of them are mine. A few years ago, I’d struggle to find anyone surfing Bondi that wasn’t on a 100-litre softie going dead straight on […]

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Jacob Sheehan, winning the morning heat on his forehand

Bondi Contrasts

Its mind boggling how different Bondi can be day to day. When you say ‘Bondi’ to people, they think of millions of people on the beach – like the postcards. Over the weekend, Bondi filled up with the glorious weather. People everywhere. Queues everywhere. I’m not torkin’ 50,000 on the sand, maybe 7-10,000? Monday 7 […]

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Light dance, 6:45am

Saline

There’s a cool south change arriving tonight after a roasting 32-degree banger. It’s a beautiful down here, in Bondi, right now. This glorious morning had everyone up early for sunrise, enjoying the fruits of warmer weather. We’ve even got a new south swell that feels like a long period set, chugging in Bondi with overhead […]

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This man surfs more than 10. Darren, again scores the cover

Junkie

Today, we’ve got a dead south swell with onshore SE winds. It didn’t look appealing this morning at sunrise. Only a few frothers out, optimistically hunting a clean face on the head-high sets. I rarely saw anyone catch anything worth photographing. If you’ve ever been curious about Kelee Meditation and want to understand more about […]

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Only Darren would find a tube, on a day like this

Re-entry

I’m back in Bondi. It was weird being on the beach without a herd of water buffalo trampling past or no horses riding into the sunset. Nobody was carrying machetes, only mobile phones! ‘Twas a beautiful Bondi morning. The sunshine is on max, whilst the head-high waves looked a little straight. A gentle NW wind […]

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Oh boy, everything was busy down at Bondi this morning. Lots going on!

It’s on!

The warm weather draws everyone to Bondi early. Looking around at 6 a.m. and seeing so much life on the beach at dawn was incredible. Rigs out, selfies firing, sunscreen wafting, ice baths overflowing, training groups sweating and all the dogs of Sydney on show down the prom. Summer’s come early! 34 degrees today. The […]

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Mr. Strain, no wettie. Still thinks he's in the summer island of Capri

Bondi is back!

I have to admit, with the warmer temps forecasted, I escaped the city to chill on quiet country beaches over the weekend. I heard it was crazy busy around here. Bondi had plenty of warmth, sun and waves this morning. Surprisingly, it was shoulder to head high on sets under an offshore regime (NW). Northwest […]

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Magic carpet rides with Darren

Back Burn

There’s smoke in the air, reminiscent of the bushfires two years ago. Hazard reduction burns must be happening west of Bondi – hopefully making our summer safe as they forecast a dry one. This weekend is going to be 28 & 30! Yes, hot. There are waves! (head high) But they’re not breaking great. Frustratingly, […]

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Every now and then, a decent set

Humpday.

Another mighty fine start to a day: sun, waves and light winds. It was very cool (7) at sunrise but rapidly heating to its forecasted maximum of 21 degrees. (tomorrow will be 25!) Unfortunately, like the rest of this week, mornings are a terrible time to surf with the dawn lower tides. These abundant sandbanks […]

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Careful with the roof down on the Rolls. Volatile weather

Town Gossip

Welcome to your Thursday edition of semi-factual, sometimes riveting, Aquabumps daily photo email thing – since 1999. How wild was that hail storm in Bondi last night? My backyard looked like Thredbo! It’s all calmed down now. The swell has plummeted, leaving 1 foot, maybe two footers on various heavenly banks(fact). Today conditions suit the […]

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Mack Truck jamming on the breaks. #mansfieldsdominate

3rd Day

It’s the 3rd super fun surf day in a row. Yes, it’s much smaller this morning and on its last legs, but it’s a superb week in the brine. Multiple peaks have distributed the crowd, but Bondi’s finest frothing grom squad typically will be hogging the best bank. I wouldn’t expect too many scraps if […]

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Long period, south swell with plenty of close outs. Bondi 7am

Chilled Mondays

Mondays are much quieter at Bondi, especially in contrast to that epic weekend of sunshine (and big crowds), just gone. Yesterday was amazing, with hints of summer. Last night, we were served a fresh, long-period, south swell. An extended period means significant gaps between waves – so you can be sitting there, surfing 1-2 foot, […]

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