We’ve got a whiff of south swell in town, with some decent banks along the beach. Oh, and one helluva rip.
Only the ladies seemed willing to venture out there this morning – too cold and sharky for the boys! They’re called the Bondi Surf Sisters, and they meet every Wednesday for a sunrise surf. Tough bunch. The waves are small, around 1–2 feet. There’s still a little pulse, but nothing particularly bueno cooking. Tomorrow should […]
Eugene Tan (::Uge) started taking photos when he was nine. He’s a self taught tinkerer, a constant experimenter and a relentless documenter who likes to shoot unassisted, mainly at sunrise. If conditions permit you’ll find :: Uge swimming with his camera or dangling out of helicopters, …constantly hunting for new angles on his favourite subjects.
Photography is a way for him to explore his first love, the beach. And since he lives at the beach, that means documenting his home, Bondi. He’s a beach bum. Most of the time he’s either on the beach shooting, digging holes in the sand with his kids or in the line up. And because :: Uge and his family live smack bang in the middle of Bondi, a stone’s throw from his Aquabumps Gallery, you’ll rarely find him further than 300 metres from the shoreline. Close enough to catch those magic Bondi moments when they happen, with his camera, his board or both.
Aquabumps started in 1999 back when the internet was brand new and social media didn’t even have a name. It began as a hobby … a photo a day from the beach emailed to mates. It grew organically. Twenty years later Aquabumps’ photographs are now seen by hundreds of thousands of people, daily.
The best of :: Uge’s work hangs in the Aquabumps Gallery 64 Hall Street Bondi Beach NSW 2026 Telephone 02 9130 7788 Australia. Yes, they can be shipped globally.
We’ve got a whiff of south swell in town, with some decent banks along the beach. Oh, and one helluva rip.
For a small day, the outflow from Ramp Dos was incredible. It’s moving plenty of water, but it also keeps the sandbanks trim and the lips sometimes hollow.
Yeah, yeah, it’s frosty…I know. But the ocean feels much warmer than the sand. You’ve just gotta get in. My fingertips are still a little tingly whilst typing out this daily riveting blurb.
Looking ahead, we’ve got days of small but contestable waves, mostly in the waist to chest high range.
City2Surf takes over Bondi this Sunday! The Aquabumps Gallery Headquarters open all weekend from 10am to 6pm, so pop in and say g’day. 64 Hall St, Bondi beach – we’re like 200 metres from the finish line.
:: uge
Only the ladies seemed willing to venture out there this morning – too cold and sharky for the boys!
They’re called the @bondisurfsisters and they meet every Wednesday for a sunrise surf. Tough bunch.
The waves are small, around 1–2 feet. There’s still a little pulse, but nothing particularly bueno cooking. Tomorrow should bring more energy with a renewed south swell. Bondi could be head-high by tomorrow arvo and clean under offshore winds.
The water is still surprisingly warm at around 18 degrees, when it’s normally closer to 16–17 at this time of year. But that wind…wow, she’s got some chill. Getting out and crossing the beach was frosty!
Nonetheless, a sunrise swim always invigorates you for the day. I swam with a wide-angle rig this morning, something I haven’t done in ages. Here’s what I saw out there…
On another note, after years of people asking for black frames in our gallery, we’ve finally done exactly that – right across the range!
Yes, black frames matter. They look fully epic on black-and-white and arty pics, me reckons. Check out our new front window if you don’t believe me!
Adios, ~Ugios
Looks like we’ve got a resident white shark calling Bondi home at the moment. It’s tormenting us, messing with us…arriving every day at precisely 6:41am at Ramp 2, basically where Bondi’s best surfing bank is right now.
Why? People have plenty of theories: aliens, water temperatures, voodoo. But I reckon it’s quite simple. Around 2.41 million salmon are schooling at South Bondi. Refer to my 45-second film from yesterday and you’ll see what I mean. It’s the world’s biggest sushi bait ball, filling the bay.
Chomp likes sushi. A lot.
The shark alarms have been going off daily. On Saturday, they sounded three times! I caught just one wave before the new SLSC drone flew overhead, blaring its alarm. Pretty frustrating, but excellent for my golf swing, which seems to involve fewer wild animals…unless you count my kids.
Yesterday’s long-period, thumpin’ swell is fading, although a few nugs are still rolling through this morning. Expect it to decline rapidly throughout the day, with just 1–2 foot forecast from tomorrow until Thursday.
A beautiful sunny week ahead, but cool, with minimums dropping to around 7 degrees.
Have a good week.
:: uge
The Mann brothers trying to out do each other :: uge #aquabumps #bondibeach #surfphotography #sydneybeaches @zygi_ @_mr.squiggles_ @jacob_sheehan7 @harperwarnock
It’s quite incredible that we live on a busy, urban beach in Sydney, yet we’re still so close to the wild.
This morning, our newest resident, Chomp the great white, entered the bay, as he seems to do almost every day lately, and triggered the shark alarms. I went for a 45-minute fly to look around, but only spotted dolphins and salmon. LOTS of them.
If you’re in Bondi this sunny Sunday, come and see us at the gallery. We’re open today from 10am to 6pm at 64 Hall Street, Bondi Beach.
:: uge
after talking about it for years, we’ve introduced a line of black frames to Aquabumps - any image, all our sizes range, are now available in black. I feel black and whites really look strong on the wall in black and white, and give a different look to my work.
Here are a few images that look good in black.
1. Rama’s Shark, Bondi
2. Requiem, Lord How Island
3. White, Icebergs
What’s your favourite?
Pop in, we’re open all weekend if you wanna have a chat about your black walll needs 64 Hall St, Bondi Beach NSW open 10am to 6pm Sat-Sun.
:: uge
Another day down the beach, another shark alarm.
Our sky guardian, Jason Iggleden from DroneSharkApp, spotted a white shark in the bay around 7am today. All those bay swimmers, surf schools and Friday water frolickers had to retreat and celebrate with a fresh coffee instead.
It’s becoming quite the regular thing down here.
A shame, as there were a few waves around this morning. The remains of the fresh south swell were producing clean 3-4 footers early; the wind will swing more south and junk it up a bit.
I’m excited about the forecast for this weekend. It looks good! I bet the line-up will be empty. I’m just hoping for no more sightings, alarms or shark chat.
The Bondi Girls Boardriders are on tomorrow, followed by Bondi Boardriders on Sunday.
Have a great weekend! Don’t forget, we’re open all weekend at 64 Hall St., Bondi Beach, for all your bare walls.
:: uge
A fresh batch of 181-degree, dead-south swell is marching into Sydney today. The waves are breaking with plenty of grunt, feathering plumes at sunrise. That westerly offshore has now swung southerly and is starting to make a mess of it (8 knots).
There weren’t many viable surf options this morning. I barely saw anyone ride a wave. Most line-ups were empty, with rogue chunks breaking out the back on their lonesome.
Expect something similar tomorrow: clean early before the wind interrupts play.
It’s a perfectly sunny winter’s day, but cold for us. A low of 9 degrees and a top of just 14.
We’ve had a few celebrities floating around Bondi lately. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and his new wife had lunch at Icebergs, but they must’ve enjoyed a few too many, as they missed Bondi’s main attraction: the salubrious Aquabumps Gallery.
The brilliantly quirky Jennifer Coolidge was here too, filming sumpin’. Maybe the next White Lotus is set at the Adina Bondi?
:: uge
I don’t say this often, but Bondi was in its prime this morning.
I’m not entirely sure why. The forecast was calling 0-1 foot, and looking at the beach right now at 11am, it really is 0-1 foot.
But for one brief, glorious moment, those keeping a close eye on the left were rewarded. The line-up was empty, the lulls were long, but there were plenty of clean 3-footers rolling through unridden, peeling all the way to the beach.
It must’ve had something to do with the tide and that massive rip running through it. Whatever happened, the planets aligned for an hour or so. I swam it and loved seeing how stoked everyone was.
The forecast is showing more swell tomorrow, and the weekend is looking good around here too. Hopefully it’ll redeem winter, because so far, it hasn’t been that great.
:: uge
I was starting to worry humans might never return to the water after our highly publicised spate of shark sightings. It’s been so damn quiet around Bondi in and out of the water. You could park wherever you liked and surf with only one or two others.
But then I rolled down the hill this morning and there it was. Bondi was back. The chaos, the morning crowds, everyone feasting on a well-deserved 2–3 foot primo day. Glassy, sunny and warm. Now you’re talking.
People were going left on rights, longboarders were burning four people at a time, and it all felt so familiar. The old Bondi is back! Hahaha.
Today is an absolute beauty. It’ll remain relatively cool, with a top of 19 degrees and a low of 10, but it’s super comfortable in the sun.
The rip at South Bondi is quite full-on, though. I sampled it and there’s a lot of water moving for such a small day. Not quite sure why, so keep an eye on it.
Great to see all the old faces back in the lineup. I know a few of you have been keeping dry!
Right now, we’ve got 10 knots of WNW wind, crispy clean conditions and super-clear water underwater.
:: uge
There’s been a bit of swell around for the past few days. Isn’t it great? Feels like a long time since I’ve seen the horizon banked up like that.
Saturday was 4-6 foot with some bigger sets. Sunday was smaller, and today it’s come down another smidge to 3-4 foot.
Bondi wasn’t great all weekend. Kinda straight, with a few crew enjoying Bronte burgers out the back. We’re not very good around here with big swells. Bondi prefers it smaller and more manageable. But somewhere along this East Coast would’ve been absolutely cooking over the weekend.
Bondi Beach is still very quiet. We’ve now got a dedicated drone based near the lifeguard tower, spotting sea life, which is a welcome addition to the beach.
There’s no wind right now, the sun is shining and it’s a glorious day. But the second that sunshine dips, it’s absolutely freezing!
I recommend going outside…while the sun’s still out.
:: uge
A solid pulse of south swell has arrived in Sydney, producing waves well over head-high, with some serious grunt.
Two to three metres of south swell, southwest winds and sunshine – proper winter surfing conditions.
Only two guys were out this morning (basically empty). Talk about thin numbers for a day with waves! Although it was definitely advanced-level stuff – hollow nugs, plenty of closeouts (standard Bondi) and a strong rip.
It was also frosty. The westerlies were slicing through everything and it was only 7 degrees at sunrise (5 with wind chill). That’s properly cold for us soft Sydneyites.
The good news? Clean winter light, solid waves and sunshine will continue tomorrow and Sunday.
Basically, cancel your indoor plans. Go outside – it’s nice.
Have a great weekend.
:: uge
