Kelly Slater and John John Florence tore it up on the third day of competition in 4- to 6-foot waves at the Volcom Pipe Pro on Sunday.

The surf was not nearly as big as Saturday’s bone-crushing bomb sets. The surfers were getting barreled left and right, nonetheless.

Florence, a three-time Volcom Pipe Pro champion who finished third on the world tour a year ago, had the highest heat of the day Sunday, a 17.00. Florence used his experience at the break to sniff out the best waves among the tricky lineup.

Florence casually paddled into a Backdoor right, dropping straight into the barrel, and cracked a quick snap into the lip on his exit. On his next wave, Florence took off on another deep Backdoor cavern and came out flying into a critical 360 air maneuver over the shallow reef.

"It was really fun," he said. "It was amazing just to come out and be able to do an air and I was really stoked to finish the wave off, especially for what the waves are now."

After winning the event three times in a row, Florence suffered an early first-round exit last year and is looking to regain his title. He credits many of his peers as motivation.

Eleven-time world champion and defending event champion Kelly Slater put on a clinic at the break, dominating both of his heats Sunday. He scored a 16.20 in his third-round heat. His barrel riding was exceptional and punctuated by big, arcing turns and hard snaps in the lip.

"I had a guy, about a 75-year-old gentleman, ask me when I was going to stop and I said, ‘When I fall over,’ " Slater said. "If you keep your mental side of things alive and stimulated and evolving, then there is no reason that things can’t be better as you age."

Among the other standouts Sunday were Hawaii surfers Mason Ho, Ezekiel Lau, Sebastian Zietz and Kaimana Jaquias.

The Volcom Pipe Pro is a World Surf League qualifying series event with 112 competitors. The event also acts as a qualifier for the Billabong Pipe Masters, the WSL season-ending event, in December.