Rested, relaxed and ripping.

That’s Haleiwa’s John John Florence, who hit the competitive water on Tuesday for the first time in Hawaii since wrapping up the World Surf League championship in October.

Florence, the 24-year-old boy wonder of the surfing world, showed the same form that got him the crown. Within a minute of the buzzer sounding the start of his heat, Florence was up and riding and powering through his turns in the diminishing swell with his unmistakable style and flow.

The waves were not pounding at Haleiwa’s Alii Beach Park on Day 3 of the Hawaiian Pro like they were Monday on Day 2, but no matter for Florence in the 4- to 6-foot offerings.

“I was happy to get on a good little roll,” said Florence, with not a bit of the strain from the grueling world tour left on his face. “I haven’t been nervous. No pressure. The only thing I was nervous about was the four-man heats (unlike the two-man heats he was used to on tour). I haven’t surfed one of those in a while.”

Again, no matter. Florence scored an 8.43 and a 7.87 on his two best waves to top Kauai’s Sebastian Zietz, Dion Atkinson and the Big Island’s Torrey Meister.

“I’m taking the whole thing (the Triple Crown of Surfing season-ending three-event series) relaxed and focused and finding my balance between the two,” Florence added.

And while Florence is eyeing a third Triple Crown title — it goes to the top surfer of the three events combined — he makes no secret about wanting what many consider the ultimate year-end prize (aside from the world title) — the Billabong Pipe Masters championship in December’s world tour and Triple Crown finale.

Florence recalled 2013, when he won his second Triple Crown but was edged out in a classic Pipe final by 11-time world champion Kelly Slater. Slater is also in town, trying to collect some of the season-ending bounty.

“I would love to be in the final with Kelly,” Florence said. “He beat me the last time. I was so close to winning Pipe and I would love to beat him there this year.”

While the waves appeared to greet Florence favorably in the Hawaiian Pro, it was not the only reception he had since coming home to Hawaii from Portugal, where he wrapped up the world championship.

His family and friends were not going to let the moment of his return just slide into oblivion.

“I was fully surprised, too,” Florence told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after his third-round heat Tuesday. “I came home and mom had some signs on my car. I thought that was cool. Then I started seeing signs on the road and thought that was awesome and super cool, and then we drove past my house and we got to the (Sunset Elementary) school and all my friends and my family and everyone were stopped on the side of the road. The road was shut down and hundreds of people were at the school I used to go to. It was incredible and I was just blown away. That was almost more meaningful to me than my world title. It was so amazing.”

Florence checked off a big one on his to-do list before arriving home from Portugal. He surfed Slater’s highly acclaimed man-made wave pool inland in California.

“I stopped and did a couple of fun things that I had been wanting to do all year,” Florence said. “One of them was stop at Kelly’s pool. That’s amazing, man. It’s crazy to be able to control a wave like that. The conditions we usually surf in are uncontrollable. That’s why surfing is so hard. To be able to sit in a pool and know where the wave is going to break and know what the wave is going to do every single time, it’s pretty amazing. It’s a good wave.”

The Hawaiian Pro’s waiting period ends Nov. 23 and it needs one more full day to complete.

Slater won his heat Tuesday and advanced into the fourth round (of 32 surfers). Keanu Asing, one of Hawaii’s world-tour surfers, also won his heat. He is in 22nd place in the world rankings and on the bubble as far as qualifying for next year’s tour.

Even though Zietz, another Hawaii world-tour surfer (No. 11 world ranking), lost to Slater on Tuesday, he placed second and also moved on to the fourth round. South Africa’s Jordy Smith (No. 3) and Adrian Buchan (No. 12) were among those who made it through to the event’s final day.

The forecast calls for the swell to keep diminishing, but another swell is expected Thursday afternoon and organizers are saying that the contest is likely to continue Friday.