Wow – what a morning. It all began with a vivid sunrise at Bondi as bright hues smeared across the skies. Loads of people up early exercising after being locked indoors for the past 3 weeks. The swell is still here, Bondi had 4-5 footers but mostly closing out. The Bra has a vicious rip […]

What a magic day to not be in the office. 3-5 foot waves, clean offshores and finally some sunshine – the 3rd day without rain in a month. Bondi had some great waves at sunrise. A left was putting on some barrells, but I reckon that would be a common story on many beaches in […]

This morning the sun came out to play – hooray! Kinda nice being able to take photos outside of the back seat of the van. Swell is up and thumpin’. Bronte to Bondi has 4-6 footers with strong offshore winds early. No one out as it looks a little wild and crazy. I’d head north […]

Guess what? It’s raining…yeah I know, unbelievable right? It’s bucketing down right now as I write this. Look on the bright side, the salt on your car will be rinsed off, the garden will spring back green, the dams are full and you can get a park pretty much anywhere in Bondi. Still….I know I’d […]

As winter dominates today we have soggy 2-3 footers at Bondi. The SE winds are making a mess of it so you’ll have to surf somewhere with better protection. I sat in the car park for 30 minutes as it poured (and still is pouring), shooting some of the worst images I’ve taken in a […]

My van looks suss at the best of times…people think it’s a ASIO abduction van and the side door will swing open snatchin’ your children. Well today is looked extra suss with a 600mm lens gorking out the side door. When I tried to explain to the morning walkers that I was shooting surfing pics, […]

Lotsa wonkiness out there at 7am. Even though the southern corner was partially protected, the ocean is still showing signs of yesterdays 35 knot agitation. Large sets, 4-6 foot and barely anyone out. The S.W. winds will settle as we progress through the day…hopefully tidying up a little. Tomorrow will be 3 feet and cleaner. […]

It’s not often you’ll get an Aquabumps daily report before 9am…so you can hop back on your chair now. There is a big south swell in town flanked with rain and – now – wind. Bondi only had 1 lone ranger out, Mr Eddie Scott, paddling out from the boot and picking off the rare […]

Today has it all… It kickin’ off with a fluoro sunrise as neon hues splashed above Ben Buckler…then came the 4-5 footers from a south swell…wow, not bad…then I saw a few meaty caves in the southern corner in front of Icebergs…looking back towards the pavilion there was a good health/wealth ACP event on with […]

As expected it’s howling onshore this morning with a rogue southerly swell hitting. For a brief moment there the sun actually came out before being smothered by a dark rain cloud. When is it going to stop raining? I spent 2 weeks in the rain in Mentawais and now a week of rain here – […]

The rain hasn’t stopped all morning making it difficult to shoot anything decent. Hence the flash back to last week’s Mentawai gold. If you like surfing Bondi @ 3-4 foot and with only a handful of guys, today is your day. Just excuse the drain water runoff and ugly skies. Winds will swing ESE later […]

There were good clean waves yesterday afternoon, but it’s not so great now. The rain also took the gloss off the morning. This week only improves from here on though…a new ground swell hitting tomorrow. Best days Wednesday, Thursday – Friday morning is looking real tasty. So I’d hang out until then. Rainy day Random […]

Finally the rain stopped and the onshore winds have subsided. A neat little 2-3 footer is on offer at Bondi and there’s very few in the water (god ole’ quiet Mondays). A great day to paddle out…even if it’s only small. High tide 5:30am, low tide 11am, high tide 5:30pm. Winds NW/NE. Cold out, warm […]

Hi y’all. We’re back in Bondi now and a few shades darker. After a brief visit to the beach with the camera I’ve defaulted to the safe haven of our recent Mentawai’s imagery. Why? Well…15 knot, sloppy, onshore, 1 footers weren’t my cup of tea. Oh it’s pouring with rain too! Boo! The good news […]

I am well aware that reading these photo updates for the past 2 weeks may have been frustrating whilst you’re sitting in a cubicle, trawling Facebook (especially when Sydney has rain). Well, you’ll be glad to know our Mentawaian junket is now over and the Bondi updates will resume. Yep, charter boat Tengirri returns to […]

The anticipated swell has arrived and roared in, in true indo fashion. Bank Vaults lit up for a large crowd from the local resorts. (Yep, there are now resorts and camps up here.) Heavy waves at Bank Vaults (at 6 foot) – when you’re in, you’re locked in. Bank Vaults is also as shifty as […]

Well, the waves have been consistently good and now we have a large inbound swell. BUT, the wind (“angin” in the local lang) is playing havoc. Storms are ripping through as intense lows grind along the west coast of Australia, smashing into the Mentawai Islands. Surf options are limited and we’re mainly hiding in coves […]

Hi there. We’re still in the islands. Get a lot of questions on email so I’d thought I’d do a Q+A special: How long are we in Mentawais? Back in 1 week, half way thru a 12 day charter around the islands. I like it here. Big swell hittin’ here soon. Why? Good waves – […]

Uge has taken the bold move of inviting me to write today’s update. I’m standing in the wheel house of the Tengirri after just surfing perfect 3 foot rights at “burger world” on day 4 of our boat charter. Here’s how you really know you’re on a boat trip… You’re taking more naps during the […]

Hi there. Hope the claws of winter haven’t dug deep in our absence… Over here it’s 30 degrees, glassy with 3-4 foot waves. Our boat has anchored up for the day against a remote left hander. A playful wave with a easy going take off and forgiving reef….(not like yesterday). It was a nice change […]

Another day of magic in the islands, similar to yesterday. At sunrise the right was 4 – 6 foot, ultra clean and tubing… (and dangerous). Our young gun Caleb Reid punted for the heavens wave after wave. Like a child in a candy store. One of the boys on the boat got tangled in the […]

Selmat Pagi. Welcome to the Mentawai islands. We’ve been here together quite a few times now…(our 12th trip can you believe it?) If you don’t already know, the Mentawais lie 200 kilometres from Padang, Sumatra (the port that got hit by a large earthquake last year). The Mentawais is a series of wave blessed islands […]

I had expectations of 1 footer dribbles this morning…oh how very wrong I was. The charts weren’t forecasting any energy. Bondi was 3-4 foot and consistently breaking. What a neat little surprise. The offshores are howling and chilling deep to the bone. The water, however, remains remarkably warm. Low tide 8:30am, high tide 2:40pm…I say […]

Not sure what to make of the surf this morning. It’s a concoction of Southerly and Nor-Easterly swell (as Bondi to Bronte seem to be attracting something from different angles). Really nothing special on offer though… Clean conditions… just not enough swell. Cloudy periods, NW winds and the odd shower today (Max 22 degrees). Bondi […]

Welcome to freedom town where the waves are small (knee to waist high) and every wave is a team wave. Some bumps had 8 mini mal wielding wild childs rippin’ it up. Pure chaos as loose boards flung in each direction. Be careful out there – today is more dangerous than 8 foot Bondi. My […]

After a fruitful weekend of waves in Sydney (in fact most of Australia had something decent to offer), we’ve defaulted back to 1-2 foot, overcast Bondi this morning with a recent south change rolling in. The swell origin is still south (so Bondi will be drawing the most out of this micro swell) but the […]

Quite a unusual morning in Sydney – sunny then stormy. It all began with semi-clear skies and a overnight spike in swell heights. Waves are now breaking 3 foot from the south and lookin’ tidy. The early morning high tide was bit of a problem – most waves I saw at Bondi were either fat […]

Real pretty day outside (again). This autumn stuff is great. Yesterday proved the charts wrong and it turned on – 4 foot waves were on offer for most of the day with perfect gentle offshores (and sunshine). How good was that? Hope you broke free from the desk and got out there (plenty of people […]

Just one of those cracker mornings out there – quite distracting sitting here in Aquabumps HQ punching out a update when I know there are 2-4 footers rolling into Bondi. It’s ultra clean with warm water and smothering sunshine. Magic! Why would you live anywhere else on a day like this? There would be decent […]

Before you hit reply on this daily email and demand I re-send the correct sunrise images from this morning – well, I don’t have ’em. I was circling Sydney airport when the sky blew up into strong hues…so I could only watch on, without a black shutter obstructing my view. Many say it was one […]

Spectacular day outside. One to be outdoors or better still submerged. Just like every other day this week, we have 1 footers, sunshine, offshores and warm waters. Take the longboard and paddle around in these ideal conditions. The land will hit 28 degrees today – how good is that. Just like summer. The next time […]

I won’t lie, trying to come up with something (interesting) to write about every morning can be hard. It’s even harder when there are no waves and the past few days have been very similar. So I spin my pen, get distracted by Facebook, go for another coffee at Gusto (3rd) or stir up my […]

The days all seem to be the same this week. It all starts off with early morning cloud that usually burns off by 8am. The winds are offshore NW and the water temperature remains a comfortable 22 degrees (boardies). The mercury will hit 25 on land and it’s perfect beach weather (yep). You’d be surprised […]

The waves were quite unimpressive this morning. The early low tides were making the 1-2 footers flop flat on a bank, robbing you of a decent ride. I don’t recommend surfing it. The clouds, however, were very impressive. Vapour buckled and stretched over Ben Buckler like a Turneresque master piece. The weather is outstanding and […]

Late one I know…oops. Got a lil’ distracted. The day started out with clouds and glassy 1 footers. Now it’s glassy 1 footers and sunny. (top of 26 degrees) Tomorrow sunny, warm. (top of 26 degrees) Wed sunny warm…(top of 26 degrees) Thursday, sunny and warm…(top of 25 degrees) And then… A sunny and warm […]

A pink glow seeped under my bedroom blind…and I knew it was going to be a cracker morning. What a shame it was all over by the time I donned the boxers and rolled down the hill with one eye sealed. For the next hour I was questioned by the early risers “did ya get […]

Ok ok…so the cat is out of the bag. Surf is pumping and Sydney’s coastline has lit up with peaky, south swell, 4 foot gems. I must say its dramatically better now than when I shot it this morning. The rips are horrendous, but there are some great waves to be had. Have to go…um…to […]

I am not all that happy about the drop in morning temperatures but you know what winter brings – finely tuned south swells. Bondi loves the dead south (that would be 180 degrees for those with their protractors out). Nice little bump in swell earlier this morning, 2-3 foot and offshore winds. Large crowds out […]

How about that…an Aquabumps report hits your inbox before 8:30am! Yes I did go home last night. Starting to cool right down in the mornings now as the claws of winter creep in. Clear skies, offshore winds and mini 1-2 footers on offer from our current East swell. Not really much out there to motivate […]

Hi… Nice morning with waves around…you’ll have to get out there before it goes onshore (which will happen very soon). I saw waves around 2-3 foot this morning and not many people out. Looks like the seasons have changed and most of the tourists have fled, leaving uncrowded peaks for the early risers. Small swell […]