Bay of Plenty women surfers have dominated this year's 2016 Billabong National Surfing Championships at St Clair Beach Dunedin.

Five Mount Maunganui surfers have qualified for the semi-finals out of the eight places available in the Under-18 Girls' Division.

Mount Maunganui's Raiha Ensor ripping it up at the national surfing champs in Dunedin. Photo: Mark Stevenson.

Tiana-Breeze de Mooij, Maaia Reid, Elin Tawharu, Raiha Ensor, and Kea Smith qualified yesterday at the championships, which are being held from January 11-16.

The age group girls' divisions saw stand out performances from Kea, who won both of her heats in the Under-18 and Under-16 Girls' Divisions.

Tiana-Breeze de Mooij in action. Photo: Supplied.

Kea was particularly powerful in the Under-18s posting a 15 point heat total, as were her Mount Maunganui mates Elin and Tiana-Breeze who also advanced to the semi-finals in both divisions.

If that wasn't impressive enough Kea, Elin and Raiha have also qualified for the Open Women's Division.

Tiana-Breeze told SunLive the team spirit among the girls was strong.

'We're all so supportive of each other. Everyone praises everyone if they get through. If they don't get through, then we're all there to comfort each other.

'It's good. Definitely like the competitive side we all push each other. There's no friends in the water but it's different on land.”

Tiana-Breeze says the conditions were tricky but she enjoyed the competition and she looked forward to competing in the semi-finals today.

The final eight surfers in the premier Open Men's Division have also been decided, with Mount surfer Matt-Lewis Hewitt qualifying.

A clean 1m swell built to over 2m yesterday afternoon, with light winds all day long providing perfect conditions for New Zealand's top surfers.

The experience of Gisborne surfer Maz Quinn shone through as he secured a quarterfinal win with an explosive performance over defending Champion Billy Stairmand (Rag) who also progressed to the semi-finals in second place.

Maz posted a 15.83 point heat total compared with Billy's 13.93 points, the two looking like the form surfers of the event to date.

He won his first title in 1996 and won a further three after that (2000, 2004, 2006) while Billy has also won four and is looking to go three in a row.

A win from either surfer would see them match the all-time records of Wayne Parkes and Iain Buchanan with five titles each.

Maz spends a lot of time surfing the Otago region and was clearly in sync with the waves during his heat.

'I was lucky to get in to some good waves,” Maz says.

'At St Clair it is a matter of being patient and ‘snagging them off the end', it is all about getting the right wave. Mas is happy to get a win over Billy after a slight slip up in the first round that saw him place second and lose his top seeding.

'Any time you beat Billy is good and it is a good confidence boost going in to the semis later in the week.”

Surfer JC Susan kept Dunedin hopes alive in a close scoring heat to finish the round.

JC, a New Zealand representative, along with Raglan surfer Luke Hughes edged out 2014 finalist Mount Maunganui's Alex Dive.

Alex was left stranded with a lack of waves in the dying stages of the heat with JC and Luke advancing to the semi-finals where they will meet the Taranaki paring of Daniel Farr and Keone Campbell. Daniel is the youngest competitor in the semi-finals at the age of 16.

Advancing to the semi-finals has already produced a career best result in the Open Division and Daniel's powerful surfing will see him make a serious push toward the final. Mount Maunganui's Matt Hewitt was the fourth heat winner in the round advancing to the semi-finals alongside Sean Kettle.

Both surfers were semi-finalists in 2014. Matt is also a past champion having won the event in 2012. Conditions are expected to deteriorate today with a southerly blowing through. The swell is expected to remain in the 1.5m – 2m range.

The Open Men's and Women's Divisions will not be contested until Thursday at the earliest.

It's the first time in five years that the event has been staged in the South Island and it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the host club South Coast Boardriders Association who are based at St Clair Beach.

This year marks the seventh time the event has been held at Dunedin.

Open Men's Quarterfinals

Heat 1

Maz Quinn (Gis), 15.83, 1,Billy Stairmand (Rag), 13.93, 2, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 10.33, 3, Jonas Tawharu (Mnt), 0.73, 4

Heat 2

Matt-Lewis Hewitt (Mnt), 12.03, 1, Sean Kettle (Tara), 10.67, 2, Jack Wilson (Chch), 10.05, 3, Manu Scott Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 9, 4

Heat 3

Daniel Farr (Tara), 13.57, 1, Keone Campbell (Tara), 12.43, 2, Luca Brunotti (Dun), 6.83, 3, Cain Aldridge (Tara), 5.9, 4

Heat 4

JC Susan (Dun), 12.3, 1, Luke Hughes (Rag), 12.23, 2, Alex Dive (Mnt), 11.67, 3, Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 6.8, 4

Under 16 Boys Round 1

Heat 1

Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 9.73, 1, Jack McLeod (Dun), 7, 2, Zack Van Eekelen (Chch), 4.77, 3,

Heat 2

Kaya Horne (Mnt), 14.33, 1, Tom Butland (Tara), 7, 2, Maddy Barclay (Oam), 4.37, 3, Levi Bonner (Chch), 3.83, 4

Heat 3

Elliot Brown (Dun), 11.6, 1, Taylor O'Leary (Mur), 9.3, 2, Luke Griffin (Mnt), 7.77, 3, Josef Jungwirth (Gis), 6.63, 4

Heat 4

Ruben Peyroux (Dun), 12.37, 1, William Van der Beek (Mnt), 10.17, 2, Max Brunker (Whngrei), 9.13, 3, Jamie Horsefield (Dun), 4.93, 4

Under 14 Boys Round 1

Heat 1

Neko Tohiariki (Chch), 8.93, 1, Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 7.43, 2, Josef Jungwirth (Gis), 5.73, 3, Dara O'Malley (Chch), 2.7, 4

Heat 2

Myka Black (Chch), 10.83, 1, Ruben Peyroux (Dun), 9.67, 2, Tom Butland (Tara), 0.43, 3

Heat 3

James Ririnui (Mnt), 14, 1, Jai Oakley (Chch), 4.8, 2, Nathan Gebert (Ohope), 2.27, 3

Heat 4

Taylor O'Leary (Mur), 8.57, 1, Maddy Barclay (Oam), 7.8, 2, James Millar (Dun), 4.83, 3, Ollie Meadows (Waiheke), 4.5, 4

Under 18 Girls Round 1

Heat 1

Tiana - Breeze de Mooij (Mnt), 9.5, 1, Maaia Reid - Bennett (Mnt), 5.57, 2, Fritha Davis (Chch), 4.53, 3, Isabella Wolleston (Chch), 3.47, 4

Heat 2

Elin Tawharu (Mnt), 10.5, 1, Raiha Ensor (Mnt), 8.93, 2, Abby Falwasser - Logan (Gis), 7.83, 3

Heat 3

Britt Kindred (Muri), 9.67, 1, Zhana Hutchison (Tara), 9, 2, Georgia Wederell (Mnt), 4.9, 3, Shani Ayson (Dun), 3.7, 4

Heat 4

Kea Smith (Mnt), 15, 1, Billie Scott (Whangarei), 10.4, 2, Tegan Bishop (Chch), 5, 3, Janee Armstrong (Chch), 4.1, 4

Under 16 Girls Round 1

Heat 1

Kea Smith (Mnt), 8.33, 1, Tiana - Breeze de Mooj (Mnt), 4.1, 2, Tallulah Horsefield (Chch), 2.77, 3

Heat 2

Elin Tawharu (Mnt), 13.3, 1, Tegan Bishop (Chch), 6.27, 2, Fritha Davis (Chch), 2.9, 3

Heat 3

Zhana Hutchison (Tara), 10.3, 1, Estalla Hungerford (Dun), 2.67, 2, Georgia Wederell (Mnt), 1.13, 3