Gallery: The Best Day Of The 2016 World Tour (So Far)

While Bells, Margies and Rio did their best to help us forget (Snapper had performance on its side, at least), today at Cloudbreak was the perfect reminder of how good competitive surfing can be. Kelly Slater and John John Florence were, unsurprisingly, particularly amazing. The quarterfinalists, along with KS and JJF, are Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina, Matt Wilkinson, Wiggolly Dantas, Ace Buchan and Adriano De Souza. With the conditions only supposed to improve, and seven heats left to run, missing a second of tomorrow would be insanity. Here’s proof, in the form of today’s best moments:

The Champ is here.

Long live The Champ.

Adriano de Souza is in the final eight.

No one surfs this place like this man. Period.

Headline: SD Banana sales head north.

Fanning drinks in a KS late drop.

… which doesn’t go to plan. Rare!

Poetry in motion, right here. Mr Fanning…

Mick’s disposition is to be perfectly positioned.

Even cowboys (dig) the blues.

Wilko held onto that gold jersey by advancing to the quartz today.

Wiggolly surfs Cloudbreak like a bull. It’s highly engaging.

Have you ever seen a contest photograph like this before?

Ace, enjoying himself immensely. This wave came after a heat-and-a-half’s lull.

Oh, dear.

Welcome to the real Dream Tour.

A thousand words, alright.