Although conditions may not have been optimal, the excitement was palpable as fans rolled through the gates on Easter Sunday at Bells Beach. With bellies full of chocolate eggs, they arrived on a sugar-high; Luke Thompson and Jordy Smith did their bit to keep the buzz going. It’s the first time since 2018 (when Mikey Feb’ joined Jordy) there has been two South African men on the CT. It’s curious to think that way back in 2008 Jordy was a young, high-flying rookie on tour who carried the hopes of South African surfing on his shoulders. These days Jordy is more attuned to slugging lips than soaring beyond them, but he had one of his best years on tour in 2025, winning two events and looking like a serious title contender throughout the season. He’s made it clear he wants to do twenty years straight on tour (2020 was cancelled) and only has to make it through this year and two more after to complete his goal. Meanwhile, Thompson is now the dynamic South African with a swag of tricks and youth on his side. He started well against his mentor on Easter Sunday, but experience proved to be a huge factor in the difficult conditions at Bells, and Jordy reeled him in with a pleasing mix of raw power and precision. Jordy’s next opponent will be Barron Mamiya, who dusted compatriot Seth Moniz in Bells conditions that looked more like peaky D’Bah than classic Bowl. Barron has historically started well on tour, but that was when it kicked off in Hawaii. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his early season form on the slopier Bells faces that don’t necessarily suit his approach.

Fans were treated to an aerial showdown between Griffin Colapinto and the new darling of Australian surfing, Dane Henry. Dane made his intentions clear from the opening minute of the fixture, tossing a clean rotation into a blue-sky morning at Bells. The lofty eight-point ride forced Griffin to step-up. In bigger, classic conditions Griffin may have been able to rely on his rail attack, but when Dane backed up his eight with a sun-tickler straight air he turned it into a dogfight at altitude. The former, world title runner-up fired back after being put in a deep combination situation, landing rotations on consecutive waves. If there was an edge over Dane in his rides it was minimal, but perhaps Griff was a hint cleaner in his approach. The local crowd was torn; eager to see Dane triumph but equally impressed by the tenacious response of the American. A roar was heard every time Dane got to his feet, but applause followed at the end of the heat in recognition of both surfers’ performances. Colapinto nudged out Dane by a mere 0.26 and later admitted that Dane had forced him to click into top gear. Griff advances to the Round of 16, where he will face fellow Californian Jake Marshall (a big improver in recent years), who won a close battle against João Chianca earlier in the morning.

Post-heat, Henry was disappointed but not dejected. “It really shows you who owns you and that’s the ocean,” he told Tracks. “The surf always decides the winner. I tried my best and I just needed that one more wave, but it didn’t come, but I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned to wait through waiting periods and off days and everything. It’s been a really cool experience and I’ve loved every single bit of it”.

After yesterday’s huge upset that saw Ethan Ewing book his trip to West Aus earlier than expected with a loss to George Pittar, the Easter Bunny kept delivering big surprises. In the final heat of the day it was former Bells champion Cole Houshmand who was caught off guard by a veteran yet courageous Alejo Muniz. The brutal reality of non-elimination surfing has become immediately apparent with so many higher seeds already bumped out of the event. If you have a favourite surfer, you’d better be watching because you might only get one chance to see them.

Just as Bells was about to witness a sequence of big heats, the ocean became a whimper. The surfers for the next heat were suited up, but we will have to wait for the next call on Wednesday to see comeback warrior, Morgan Cibilic face Kanoa Igarashi, and a much anticipated, Brazilian battle between world champion Yago Dora and rookie, Mateus Herdy.