As our trip comes close to an end, we make our way back to the central part of the island chain, where crossing overnight to Padang is easier. There are endless breaks along the way, so we drop anchor at many, hopefully timing it with the right tides, winds and crowds. It’s been days of […]

It’s been a different trip to the Mentawai’s this year: we’re trying a new boat, small swells, heaps of sunshine and large crowds. Everyone is travelling madly after missing two seasons during the pandemic. I would say 50% would be from Australia and the other half Brazilian—the odd American, British, and Italian at some reefs. […]

Selamat Pagi! Indonesia is good to surf as it’s near the equator, and the winds are generally light whilst attracting raw southern swells from The Roaring Forties in the Indian Ocean. The islands are a myriad of nooks and crannies for these consistent swells to break on, creating hundreds of surf breaks each with their […]

I know, I know, it’s been a while. Welcome to the Aquabumps offshore edition, where we broadcast from the wave-rich Mecca of Mentawai – a very remote part of the world that I visit annually. Yesterday was a classic; whilst farming a nuggety left, filling our wave quotas, a blue catamaran sped into the line-up. […]

It’s still big and unappealing for surfers. Rogue sets are breaking in the 2-3 times head-high range. While smaller than yesterday, it’s still wild to ride. The icy west offshore winds are not helping either…hard to get out of bed today. Maybe tomorrow, but it will be surfable/enjoyable mostly Thursday and Friday. My family and […]

Everybody loves these mental days when the waves are gigantic and wild. I get asked how big – gosh, I saw sets in the 12ft+ range. The entire bay sometimes closed out as water ran up and hit the ramps. Icebergs was inundated whilst spray at Ben Buckler was at least 4 storeys. Is it […]

Last night we were gifted a brand new, clean south swell. It’s fun-sized, head high and occasionally;y bigger. The NNW winds are offshore and keeping it neat — plenty of waves, lots of close outs and the odd nugget. Winds should remain north and clean at south-facing beaches like Bondaka. I say this every day […]

On our recent Easter break to country NSW, the family got to test out the robust Defender, a dreamy off-roader in a unique Grassmere green with matching rims, paying homage to its 75-year origins. Naturally, as we’re all beach freaks, the Defender spent more time on the sand than on the bitumen – searching for […]

The waves are plentiful, and the sunshine delightful. It was the first morning you needed to rug up – (around 12 degrees at sunrise). The water, however, remains ridiculously warm, and some are still surfing in boardies! The best (and biggest) waves are at beaches that face east. Bondi still attracted some swell in the […]

No, I am not selling Prime drinks on the black market like the kids – it’s a PRIME day – primo – cracker – epic!@# Why? It’s perfectly west offshore and a bit chilly, but the conditions are clean, and the skies have cleared. The ENE swell is peaking, and I saw waves in the […]

Oh boy, we’ve got a 10-out-10, top-notch, fully-sik cracker of a day outside. It’s going to hit 27 degrees while the winds remain light. There’s even a little wave on offer! GO NOW. GET WET while it’s a glamorous beach day. Why? as it’s gonna rain all weekend. And I mean rain hard. 30 mm […]

It has turned into a comfortable Autumn’s day out there. There’s a breeze from the NE with a mix of East and South swells. Bondi was reasonably small, with waist-to-shoulder high waves and a manageable crowd. A cloudy start to a gloriously clear sky. How good! Waves will continue tomorrow – we’ve had a good […]

The beach is full of dramatic rips, sweeps and shallow banks. Exacerbated by the lower morning tides, there’s plenty of hollowness and straightness. Nothing too exciting, 2-3 foot (mainly 2) but the super-groms and mini-john-johns were pumped. Sun finally came out, and the winds were non-existent. Clean az. I’m a big fan of Indonesia and […]

I’ve had a few weeks off the cameras and indulged in rural quality time with the family. Today I photographed Bondi, and even in that short time away, the light has changed somewhat. The autumn sun’s position is right around the back of Ben Buckler now, seeping side onto the beach…I like that angle. The […]

The swell has switched from south to more ENE – making smaller waves at Bondaka. A couple of rip bowls in the south kept the micro groms entertained as the tide went high (7:30 am). Not many waves are wasted when Bondi’s youngsters mob a peak, 1 foot, half-a-foot, two foot – they thrive. The […]

I was up early, fossicking in the dark, stalking sunrise colours. It paid off as the clouds over Benny B got lit! I had the 16-bit 100-megapixel medium format beast blazing as the morning progressed through the different lighting stages. On the beach, waves were breaking around the waist to shoulder high. It looked pretty […]

My pet robot says, “A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon caused by reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light in water droplets, resulting in a spectrum of colours appearing in the sky.” As the showers paused, we scored a double-banger rainbow this morning. It was a short-lived gap in the constant rain – I got lucky. […]

Sydney’s coastline is like a broken eggshell, with nooks and crannies everywhere, facing all directions. The good thing about this is that it can be 1ft at one beach and 3ft at another facing more east on the same day! Today I shot a bit at Bronte, a 270-metre-long beach just over the hill from […]

Autumn – I love this time of year. It’s when the sun tweaks around the back of Ben Buckler and rises into the bay, side onto the waves. You’ll see a lot of silhouette shots from here on, my fave. The water remains warm as the air drops. West winds are plentiful in autumn, which […]

Bondi put on its best colours for sunrise, a cracker, wasn’t it? Looking north resembled a postcard from Sydney with dreamy reds and pink dancing above Benny Buckler. The ocean is clean with gentle offshores. A small south swell was putting out the odd shoulder-high wave, but it was closing out a lot. Winds should […]

It’s been raining all morning. Not ideal beach conditions. Very dark, too, making it a tad demotivating to get out of bed. If you brave the rain, there are waves. The south swell provides shoulder-high bumps under clean morning conditions (winds currently from the NW and very gentle). Looking ahead, the theme of this week […]

It was a sea of Fluro this morning as the OneWave crew celebrated ten years of supporting mental health in the community. They attempted to join North Bondi with South Bondi in a human chain (with the odd Mexican wave). Good to see all the other groups like 440, Salties, Clubbies, all joining in. The […]

The clouds parted for the sunrise – very pleasant down there today. Did you get down? Most Sydney beaches would have waves today from this little East swell. Bondi had the odd shoulder-high set but closed out a lot until high tide. It’s uber-clean with little wind. The water is bath-like and salubrious. OneWave is […]

We start in the dark on these types of days. The light was smothered with a thick blanket of clouds – pretty hard to see, let alone shoot. From what I could see, there are clean waves today. Head high and predominantly closing out on lower tides. 9:30 am was the high tide line, whilst […]

It’s not always glamourous beach days down here in Bondi. Today’s a 20-knot onshore grey day, with few people roaming the beach. A few groms are out in the middle, catching shoulder-high waves stirred up by this fresh southerly. It wasn’t spectacular, but with Bondi Boardriders kicking off this Sunday, they’re all sharpening their skills […]

We had another spectacular beach weekend in Sydney. It was quite simply stunning, with light winds and glorious temperatures. Rather than show you grey, onshore images from this morning (The ‘Smotherly’ is here), I’d rather showcase images taken yesterday. Da-nah! We had an odd inversion fog layer roll into town – where cold air meets […]

La Nina is over. Yep, over. Let’s party. Wow, now that the weather has been unlocked, hasn’t it rebounded in a big way? Hot-hot-hot. Mid-to-high thirties for most of yesterday – and it remained thirty degrees overnight.  The beaches have been rammed with humans seeking a reprieve from the heat. At sunrise this morning, there […]

The sunrise is rising late, and this morning it was dipped in pinks. Super intense colour around 6:10 am; you probably all saw it as the beach was rammed at this time. There’s still plenty of East swell today, with waves breaking around head-high on sets. Bondi is truly lacking decent banks, so other beaches […]

I muffed it this morning (surf-wise) – sorry! I underestimated the current east swell and shot Bondi when many other beaches lit up this morning. I should’ve been at Bra or Manly. They’ve been cooking. Especially with this idyllic WSW 3 knot offshore – oh man, I am still slapping myself as I write this […]

The beach wasn’t very picturesque this morning, and my artificial intelligence robots are having a day off. So you’ll have to settle for my riveting editorial and some fancy pics taken in February that haven’t been showcased yet. It’s a mixed bag…but that should keep you going until Sydney’s lousy weather clears up! Ok, beach […]

I’m addicted to Chat-gpt. It’s fun and new.Today’s update is written entirely by the artificial intelligence robots: Based on the given information, it seems that the conditions at Bondi Beach are not suitable for surfing today. The onshore winds have made the waves messy and difficult to ride, and the cloudy sunrise may not provide […]

Geez, what a busy morning – everywhere. In and out of the water. It looks like everyone got on the sunrise swim program. Surfwise, there’s plenty of south swell. It’s straight AZ at Bondi with sets over head high. I shot for 1.5 hours this morning and could barely get a shot of anyone on […]

As we progress into Autumnland, the sunrise moves back around Ben Buckler’s point. I love this time, as the light becomes cross shore, and I shoot a tonne of golden light silhouettes. This morning was your typical good-looking Bondi morning—an abundance of sunshine, ice-bathers, exercisers, sand sanders, frothers, groms and swimmers. If you just landed […]

Good luck getting a wave of 6 x hungry Bondi groms, especially in 1-2 foot. The sub-30-kilo frothers left no scraps on the table at sunrise. An enjoyable morning with warm conditions and little wind. Waves have dropped but still surfable. Rarely is it UNsurfable around here… it just doesn’t crank often. The small surf […]

After a restless, hot night, many were up for the early as the NE wind swell continued to deliver. At exposed East facing beaches, waves broke in the head-high vicinity. South-facing Bondi had fat shoulder high waves amongst a very full morning high tide. It’s cloudy now and reasonably cool compared with yesterday. The sunshine […]

Phew, there’s been a lot going on in Sydney over the weekend. Sydney World Pride ended its 17-day party yesterday with a 50,000-person march across the Harbour Bridge. We were fortunate enough to have a great angle above, from the Bridge pylons, to capture the action. Ocean Lovers Festival – Bondi 2023The annual Ocean lovers […]

A busy Friday morning down at Bondi, but it’s gonna step up as Sydney World Pride Bondi kicks off tomorrow. The stage is set, and the endless trucks are flowing into the car park. We haven’t had a big event like this in ages. The 6am high tide slowed the waves, but hopefully, more will […]

There’s more steel on Bondi Beach than BHP right now. Scaffolding and fences litter the beach in preparation for this weekend’s Sydney World Pride’s big dancing crowd. 60% chance of showers on Saturday – nothing like dancing in the rain! Wear a wettie. The surf was dismal this morning. Onshores have stirred up a pathetic […]

Earlier today, it was super clean, warm and inviting. A refreshing swim was ideal. If you had a surf craft of hefty volume, you’d have fun surfing among the waist to belly-high waves. The morning high tide was really porking up most rideable waves. The southerly has arrived now (12:01pm) – it won’t be as […]

12,000 crew will party this Saturday from 3pm to 10pm on Bondi Beach in the name of Sydney Pride Week (tickets sold out). It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a large structure on the beach, perhaps since the Volleyball Stadium for the Olympics in 2000? Or how about Stranger Thing’s massive portal rift […]