This is a public announcement…when surfing, can we limit 1 surfer for each wave. I know this might come as a shock to many that surfed Bondi this morning. But yes, not every wave is a team wave. I don’t think I’ve seen so many drop-ins in such a short period of time ANY where in the world. I mean Waikiki will come close but they’re usually bikini clad goddesses who you’re calling in anyway…but wow…every single wave this morning had 4-5 people on it. So if you don’t have priority, as in someone is already on the wave you can’t paddle for it and try your luck on the next set. The funny thing is that the line-up was pretty much empty by 8:30. There is 12 hours of daylight!
There is a small swell still in town, it’s not a patch on yesterday. The sun is out and you can feel the bake. I have shorts on. How good is that?
Enough ramble
:: uge
thanks for the great wake up, but i would like more surf photos if possible?
Best post, ever.
Thanks Christian, saw you got a few this morning.
And when people drop in and damage your board they tell you “oh well, sorry”. Not good enough. Learn and obey the rules. If you do happen to have an accident pay for it just like you would if you were in a car. Don’t be a wanker!
nice pics, terrible ettiquette, you forgot to mention snaking thats out of control…. are people that that they jump the queue. Manly has signs up explaining surfing ettiquette (you would be surprised how many people don’t know this), surely this should be the first thing waverly council can do, I’d suggest right down at that south end. Also if someone shouts when they have the wave it usually stops drop ins….you hear it before you see it.
It’s also bloody dangerous. Perhaps we need one of Nat Youngs designed signs like on the northern beaches, that explains who has the right of way.
Solid Point m8, I Agree!
The only bad thing about Bondi (beside the parking) is the amount of ppl dropping in! It’s not hard to turn your head and have a look before you get to your feet. The amount of grown men that stare at you with a stupid, suprised look on their face after you yell out is incredible. Figure it out or start riding a boogey board in the flags!
Exactly why I have quit surfing in Bondi, takes all the enjoyment out of it. Come in angry instead of happy and relaxed.
Bronte point had 4 out this morning!
Dont tell everyone that Steve. Tomorrow morn will be packed
ha ha, perhaps some of the more prominent and highly skilled regulars could lead by example, by not snaking, or not paddling to the peak everytime they paddle back out or by not dropping in…yeah right…
I’ve got to +1 this comment. Most of the “real” Aussies regulars are the most annoying of the lot … Sneaking blocking and so on.
I was in the water this morning at Bondi and I think I do my best not to drop in, but after that guy paddled twice or thrice below my nose just to stop me from going (and not going himself by the way) well I didn’t really care if I screwed him or not.
It is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and consulting their own self-interest, are spoiling a shared limited resource.
Same idea with overfishing, the M5 each morning, global warming, and the rubbish you see on the beach.
Advisory signs may help in achieving enlightement.
Or perhaps higher parking fees, council rates and bus fares to Bondi? Lol
The waves at Bond are crap anyway. I say let al the NFI surfers have it Just stay away from Tamma and Bronte
Uge,
I have noticed over a period of time you have been taking photographs of the older buildings around Bondi. Can I say I really appreciate this; it is bringing attention to these gems that really define the character of the area.
Like Paddington which is tightly legislated to protect the federation style buildings of the area, Bondi although having a selection of different build periods has a really defined character which also needs to be protected. I know everyone wants to live in Bondi, so it’s constantly under the developer squeeze, but this won’t change by replacing it with overdeveloped vertical bunkers. It’s the slow almost stealth approach of removing many of these buildings that is most concerning. I’m just throwing my thoughts out there because I’m actually worried that Bondi will lose all of its great buildings and with it its character.
Thanks
Nick
what do you expect when some guy sends emails telling people how beautiful its going to be down at Bondi tomorrow?
Phil sounds like Ghandi.
Someone needs to regulate like sunny then life will be all tarm
Just stop surfing bondi. I mean, banks are never good (sometimes they are), always crowded, and loads of arrogant surfers. Go explore some other beaches where no one surfs. Classic waves to be had!!
Hey Everyone,
Most of winter the line up is pretty empty. It’s just cause the sun is out.
Bondi is weather dependant – not surf dependant.
I think when you surf a well know beach, 8 kms from a major city you have to paddle out with a different mind set – that there are going to be other people out there.
BUT…I am not saying it’s ok to drop in. It’s not. Everyone will get a wave if there is no burnings.
I just got back in from a surf…still hectic – but wow, what a nice day, uge
PS _Tommy Carroll and Ross Clarke Jones are surfing South Bondi
Wish there was some old 70’s to 80’s localism back at Bondi. People dropping in should get a good serving or they will never learn
Its getting stupid and people will start getting hurt running over others
John,
Agree with you….but how do you suggest doing this in the short space of time in the morning and you don’t own a car? Maybe the carpark should be closed before 9am that should keep the numbers down…..or massively overpriced either way i’d be happy with it.
How funny to read people complaining about dropping in. If these people had been around when Bondi was a beach with locals rather than 5 year blow ins they would have been complaining about the rough (but effective) justice given to kooks. Justice has been outlawed by gentrification. Sam de Brito had it right when he said that if he saw one more advertising wanker from Perth wearing white thongs in Bondi complaining about blow ins, he would go crazy.
Hey Reay, Oh the good old days Reay. Not sure what advertising wankers from perth has to do with anything, do you know any? I don’t. Quite a few angry old guys around the place who can’t handle change though – know any?
harsh call old fella. envy will just destroy your soul and leave you bitter and twisted. Enjoy what has been given to all of us to enjoy
Hi guys,
Jhonas agrees with all that is stated above. Dropping-in is bogus, but so is snaking because you think you own your own little piece of sand and water at South Bondi. Then again south Bondi has a shifty A-frame peak so you tell me who is paddling inside who and i’ll call you a liar! Basically it doesn’t come down to rules, it comes down to respect. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think the other guy will make it round the section, basically it doesn’t matter what anyone ‘thinks’, it matters what you do, and how much respect you show.
Uge, why don’t you start taking photos of offenders faces?? post them up somewhere on the website! This might shame them into acting correctly, if their old man failed to teach them what surf rules and culture are all about.
Love ya Uge,
Jhonas
So, the ‘Fern for Mayor’ campaign has finally begun….?
My solution: wake up earlier!
There’s enough sunlight at 5:20 to start surfing, it means you get relatively uncrowded surf for about 45 minutes before the major crowds roll in.
Even if people aren’t dropping in on purpose there are so many surfers out there that it gets a bit stressful, how ironic is that?
I gotta say though, having grown up surfng in bondi, it makes you a better surfer, bondi surfers have to fight for their waves, we have to be constantly busy in the water to make sure we are in the best possible position for a wave. Whenever I go surfing with my mates from quieter beaches I always get more waves then them because I am so active in the water.
So I say see the positives, it’s not going to change, drop ins, crowds, kooks, be optimistic about it and glad that even a beach 8 km’s from the city with hundreds in the line up is one of the world’s most beautiful places to be at 6:30 in the morning
Good Comment Mickey…Christian B was out there 5:30am and was stoked…plenty to go around.
I say we should 1: Ban stomping on your board like a mad grommet 2: Prosecute those found wiggling all over the wave like they are having a fit 3: Standing like a crab on your board – Never acceptable 4: Clubbies on paddle boards coming through the line up (Unless they are wearing a bikini) 5: Goat boats 6: SUP’s — Any other suggestions? (oh, and jailing anyone riding a pop out mini mal!)
jet skis, IRB’s, surf baots, body surfers, kite surfers….
You kids need to learn to share.
Play nicely, and everyone can have some fun.
quote: One wave left to someone else is another wave caught.
How about banning cranky surfers?
You’ve definitely struck a collective nerve here Uge
It’s Hilarious!
wow the line up almost empty by 8.30, i really thought i was the only poor sod in Bondi that actually had to go to work. sure feels like it most mornings driving out past the beach at 7.40am – glad there must be at least a few others. x
I think you all complaign too much. Just chiil out and relax when you surf. If you surf with that attitude it will wreck your day! P.s. (south coast is uncroweded and perfect. But dont bring the wingers into town!!)
if you cant handle the crowds and shit at bondi surf somewhere else.. problem solved
mayne all those kooks brah, its so annoying when people try to involve themselves in a sport they enjoy. i mean who do they think they are? trying to surf? lucky none of you were ever learning, god forbid you might have been a kook a while back.
i say keep the waves free of kooks, that way, in 20 years time they’ll be heaps of free waves, as no one will be surfing.
blog is more interesting than photos today
Think you’re missing the point Soccy – being a kook doesn’t neccesarily mean learning to surf, you can be a kook if your a prick who drops in and snakes.
its especially busy today partly cause its sunny, but mostly cause it’s SMALL.
all the epic double overhead perfection we’ve had this year (tama on sat 4/6, bronte on mon 11/7 to wed 13/7), there was never more than 15 guys out, and waves were being shared like candy between kids. no inside paddling, no drop ins. just a lot of hooting and smiles.
so all you weekend warriors can share your 3 foot slop, cause when its on i know you’ll just be standing on the cliff sipping a chai latte.
we need surf police that can give tickets…
Hoyun, you need a ticket for posting that
Accepted Sod. And you get a ticket for not having a sense of humor 🙂
I agree, it’s annoying to have people drop in and snake, but there’s always going to be an element of that the more crowded and competitive it gets – especially when there are such varying degrees of surfing ability on a single break.
So you have a choice – if it really makes you that angry that, heaven forbid, other people in and around Bondi have the same idea as you to go surfing before work then you have two choices:
1) Find somewhere else to live your life so you can surf in peace without other people
2) Adjust your attitude to suit the conditions and enjoy Bondi for what it is
(and by the way – those who carry on like a pork chop after someone’s genuinely apologised for dropping in generally look like far bigger tossers than the guy who actually dropped in…)
Before I read this post and all these comments I was of the opinion that when I surf Bondi I’ve just got to suck it up and accept that four to a wave is the way it is. But no, you are right, dropping in is unacceptable anywhere!
Bondi ideal = Big SE Swell, light 5-10 knot W wind. Beach full of Bikini clad women cheering you onto waves :0)
Bondi reality = small Sloppy onshore Dreggs, 40 people per peak. Everyone constantly snaking & dropping in & no respect for humanity shown. :0(
Bondi solution = If I knew this I would post…. but realistically, Bondi will always be overpopulated, overcrowded, no rules, snake to the break, sneak to the peak style every surf.
Its a sad reality but even with signs, it only takes one boof head “Old mate Local” to paddle past everyone who had obeyed the rules for the last 2 hours to send everything spiraling down into a mess of fiberglass and flesh floating like flotsam
Phew, what a story!!!
Crowded Bondi does get pretty stressful with people going on & off waves left right & centre, and worse still, because there is such a mix of abilities that its hard to predict which of those three ways they are going…but that’s Bondi, like it or lump it, its not just a surfers beach!
Anyways, Sod, i reckon the Bondi solution is this:
1. Safety first – seriously, with so much going on in the water if people prioritised not running into each other over showing thier awesome(?) skills, then i reckon there would be a lot less drop ins.
2. Don’t drop in
3. Get more vocal – not the agro ‘get out of my way’ vocal, more the ‘hey i’m here’ …like driving in Bali when people beep their horn as they approach a corner to say ‘hey i’m here’ not like in Sydey where people beep their horns to say ‘f#*k off’
4. accept that there is always going to be mixed levels of ability out in the water…especially in Summer. Get outta town on the weekends if you need your fill of less crowded waves.
5. Enjoy the good bits…i love paddling out & seeing a bunch of familiar faces in the water 🙂
yep, well said belle, i hope you score a bondi bomb (2ft!!) soon
Just came across this old article. Ironic part is I’ve been dropped in on by your very self Uge out at Sth Bondi maybe about 5years ago.
Geez you’ve been carrying that around for a while.