Aquabumps

Aquabumps Aquabumps is a website and daily email dedicated to early morning beach life. Which beach? All of the images are taken by ::uge.

Daily photos from the beach/surf by photographer Eugene Tan (:: Uge) See more at www.aquabumps.com or checkout our gallery at 151 Curlewis Street Bondi Beach NSW 2026 Australia. Aquabumps depicts images of waves, surfers (good and bad), swimmers, sunrises and whatever happens in the wee hours down the beach every weekday. Bondi mainly (we’re based there) but quite often Hawaii, Tahiti, Maldives, I

ndonesia and Fiji. We’ve been doing this for since 1999 (that’s 12 years kids, well before blogs became popular). It’s free to subscribe to our daily photo newsletter and 40,000 people happily exist on our mailing list. (Some readers have been on there for 12 years!) You can join our list by entering your email address in the box provided on the top right of this page. Around 10:30am each week day, the images are emailed directly to you in a HTML formatted newsletter…so you don’t have to open any annoying attachments, just scroll down through the highly crafted images, read a short (hopefully amusing) paragraph or two and then back to work! Yes, a little reminder of what’s happening outside your office cubicle. The idea came about in 1999 when Eugene Tan, a frustrated Creative Director combined his three passions: photography, surfing and the web. In the nineties blogs hadn’t evolved yet, but Eugene, better known as ::uge (yooj), thought he’d provide a nice daily break for his mates to see a bit of surf at work. The daily updates started flowing more consistently and the first handful of friends became thousands of people logging on from all over the globe. Even Aquabumps’s page is a hive of activity with 20,000 followers (April 2011). Shooting at daybreak has become his morning ritual. He’s had a camera in his hand since he was 9 years old and a keen surfer for 26 years. Uge is constantly seeking unique angles for his morning images, whether it’s shooting from underwater, in helicopters, or from a cliff in South Bondi. If you like the images and want to see more, the Aquabumps Gallery in Bondi displays the images blown up in their full glory. Aquabumps opened it’s first gallery in 2004 and we send artwork all over the world. All artworks are signed by the artist and available in various sizes, prices and framing techniques. We take great pride in our artworks – the top quality materials used in framing and printing have been well researched by our team over the past decade. Aquabumps was the first gallery in Australia to adopt the new metallic prints, acrylic face mounts in 2002 and acrylic blocks in 2009. We also launched the long-awaited Aquabumps book, “A Day At Bondi” in 2010. The collection of images depicts 12 hours at Sydney’s most famous stretch of sand. Over 200 salt-crusted pages document sunrise to sunset, and all that happens in between. The book is available to purchase online and can be sent just about anywhere in the world. Its 1st run nearly sold out in 6 weeks.

05/06/2026

Made for mornings. Worn for living.

To celebrate the opening of Akubra’s new Bondi store at 39 Hall Street, we created a portrait series of 11 Bondi morning regulars—swimmers, surfers, runners and beach wanderers who help shape the rhythm of the place.

For nearly three decades I’ve photographed mornings, while Akubra has been making hats for more than 150 years. Different crafts, shared dedication.

Photographed at sunrise near where they spend their mornings, the portraits are now exhibited on the walls of the new Akubra store at 39 Hall Street, Bondi Beach.

Pop in, have a look, and meet some of Bondi’s morning people.

Made for mornings. Worn for living.

:: uge
Special thanks to the morning crew! .bondi

It’s pretty much flat out there, with howling offshore westerlies sweeping across the beach. A beautiful day nonetheless...
04/06/2026

It’s pretty much flat out there, with howling offshore westerlies sweeping across the beach. A beautiful day nonetheless. The skies are crisp and clean, the water sparkling, and there’s a definite chill in the air.

It’s only 19 degrees, but it feels much cooler. This weekend we’ll dip into single digits for the first time this year. Winter isn’t mucking around.

The swell may show a little life tomorrow before erupting into a very solid south swell on Friday afternoon. It’s a dead south, 180-degree swell, which means Bondi will wear the full brunt of it. Expect the biggest surf in the neighbourhood.

One of the great benefits of these strong westerlies is the water clarity. They push all the murk offshore, leaving behind those beautiful blue-green colours that make you want to dive straight in.

Enjoy the sunshine. Go for a swim.

:: uge

Like it always does, winter has arrived in a hurry. One swift flick of the switch — boom — June 1 lands and suddenly it’...
02/06/2026

Like it always does, winter has arrived in a hurry. One swift flick of the switch — boom — June 1 lands and suddenly it’s down jackets, cold toes and that brisk dash across the sand back to the car park.

The ocean looks spent. Flat batteries. Tiny 1–2 foot waves this morning, and somehow they seem even smaller as I write this riveting report. The next few days are shaping up to be equally underwhelming before things swing wildly the other way. Friday and Saturday are forecast to be really, really big — in the 8–10 foot range. A little too much of a good thing for most.

Yep, this weekend is the King’s Birthday long weekend. Our Bondi gallery will be closed on Monday while His Majesty enjoys another year around the sun. Perhaps the mountains will deliver some fresh snow for the occasion and get the ski runs firing.

As for the weather: sunshine tomorrow, a possible shower on Thursday, and partly cloudy skies on Friday.

:: uge

The plague of sub-par conditions continues at Bondi… rainy onshores, shoulder-high wobblers and generally very little to...
28/05/2026

The plague of sub-par conditions continues at Bondi… rainy onshores, shoulder-high wobblers and generally very little to get excited about. With this east swell around, I’d much rather be at Manly or Maroubra where it’s a little more protected.

Feels like I’ve had damp shoes for about three weeks straight now.

No fresh photos today (rare) — just revisiting sunnier, happier times from the archives.

Tomorrow is the SurfAid Cup at Bondi and the Aquabumps crew is gearing up. Together we’ve raised over $8k for our beloved villagers in Indonesia and we’re super grateful for every contribution.

Today is the LAST DAY to donate over $100 and go into the draw to win a $1500 Aquabumps artwork of your choice. And between us… the odds are very much in your favour.

COMMENT DONATE and I’ll DM you the link. Last day legends.

:: uge

Been a little quiet on here lately… mostly because Sydney’s weather has been serving up endless drizzle, gloom, fog, mug...
27/05/2026

Been a little quiet on here lately… mostly because Sydney’s weather has been serving up endless drizzle, gloom, fog, mug and generally zero photographic inspiration. ☁️🌧️

BUT… the sun finally showed up today.

And better still — there were waves.

Head high and a bit, clean as a whistle, and for once it wasn’t raining while I was down there. Managed to sneak in a few snaps before dashing home.

Elsewhere in surf-world, Dirk Ziff’s WSL is apparently pulling 80 million global viewers and sniffing around for investment. So if you’re after a tax write-off for all those surfboards… maybe just buy the WSL?

More importantly — the Bondi Cup is THIS FRIDAY and our family Aquabumps team (with Patty!) is gearing up for the big one.

We’ve raised $6,200 of our $20,000 target already — huge thanks to everyone who’s chipped in. Legends.

If you donate over a hungie ($100), you’ll go into the draw to win one of my $1,500 artworks — a big 125 x 91cm print of your choice from the gallery. At the moment, there’s only a handful of people in that draw… so your odds are looking pretty good!

Want in?

Comment DONATE below and I’ll DM you the link to our family fundraising page.

Let’s do some good.

Fundraiser Bondi

17 knots of constant southerly is properly mucking up the Friday. Bondi’s deserted, the onshore flow seeing to that, whi...
22/05/2026

17 knots of constant southerly is properly mucking up the Friday. Bondi’s deserted, the onshore flow seeing to that, while protected south Bronte has a few technically surfable chunks if you’re desperate enough — plus a rock pool to hide in when the breeze starts slapping you about.
Patchy skies, on-and-off sprinkles, though it should stay mostly dry through the arvo. Feels cold, dunnit? Says 18 degrees, but more like 15 with that wind.
All weekend we’ve got a big onshore swell looming. Bit of rain tomorrow, then likely dry, cloudy and grey Sunday.
The Bondi SurfAid Cup is exactly one week away. Huge thanks to everyone who’s chipped in so far — the kids, Patty and I have raised $5,700 for and our beloved Indonesian island communities.
What I love most? It’s not one giant corporate rolling in with a big novelty cheque. It’s been built on a stack of $10s, $20s and small donations from this brilliant community. That’s the good stuff. Teamwork makes the dream work.
If you’d like to support Spikey and help our Bondi Cup team raise a few more dollars...
Comment DONATE below and I’ll DM you the link.
He’ll be forever in your debt.
Adios, ugios ✌🏼

I’ve been a bit quiet on the posts lately, following the procession of speeding P-plater-tradie-utes north on the A1 to ...
21/05/2026

I’ve been a bit quiet on the posts lately, following the procession of speeding P-plater-tradie-utes north on the A1 to Coffs Harbour.

Truth be told, I’ve never really hung or shot much around Coffs. For us, it’s typically the mandatory Guzman pit stop, refuel, stretch the legs, then keep charging north to the Northern Rivers. (The A1 basically ploughs straight through the middle of town, so you don’t exactly get a choice.)

But wow — Coffs has waves. And beaches. And then more beaches with waves at completely different angles. It’s kinda incredible how many options there are for a bustling regional town of 50-odd thousand.

Places that consistently produce surfers like Lee Winkler, Mitch Crews, Cooper Chapman, and nearby Evans Head’s Callum Robson usually tell you all you need to know — they get proper surf up here.

This week, the NSW State Surfing Titles rolled into town. Juniors, SUP frothers, old pharts, longboarders — the whole glorious travelling surf circus.

It’s been chunky all week too. And biblical rain. Like tropical typhoon stuff. But when it finally cleared, Coffs absolutely lit up.

I spent the week trailing the groms/juniors from beach to beach, all chasing qualification for the Aussie Titles in Margaret River this November. They’re on Day 4 now.

And crikey… the level of surfing talent is insane.

Australia’s surfing talent pipeline is just ridiculous. Some of these kids are surfing at genuine world-class levels before they’ve even finished primary school.

:: uge

It was nice to see a bit of sunshine this morning, even if the surf remains j***y and onshore. These short-period, rando...
15/05/2026

It was nice to see a bit of sunshine this morning, even if the surf remains j***y and onshore. These short-period, random swell mixtures aren’t exactly easy on the eye, but that little rip bowl down south had the odd whackable chunk… and strangely, hardly anyone on it.

Forecast says rain’s on the way — yet to show its face — but I’m sure it’s lurking. Mild one today: 21 degrees, dipping to 16 overnight.

Tomorrow, the World Surf League Championship Tour event at Raglan kicks off on that fabled left point break — one of the rare lefts on tour. Haven’t been back to Raglan since 2012, but I’ve got a real soft spot for the joint. Chilled little town, and some of those back beaches can absolutely turn on smoking waves too.

:: uge

Address

64 Hall Street
Bondi, NSW
2026

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+61291307788

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