ARUGAM BAY, Sri Lanka - Fantastic conditions at Arugam Bay for Day 3 of the Association of Surfing Professionals 6-Star SriLankan Airlines Pro.

A slight increase in swell with waves at three-to-five feet (1.5 metre) but perfectly angled on this incredible point break set-up saw the world's top surfers shredding the perfect waves as Round 2 was completed, narrowing the field to the final 24 surfers.

No. 1 seed Drew Courtney summed up the feeling of all the surfers competing here after advancing through his heat.

"What a place for a contest," exclaimed Courtney.

"The waves line up superbly on this point and it's like a machine peeling through with section after section standing up and allowing major moves. I love the place' the people, the wild-life, everything about Sri Lanka," added Courtney.

There were no major surprises today with all heats closely fought out.

Courtney and highly touted wildcard Julian Wilson both advanced with solid second placings.

Other standouts today included Richard Christie (NZ), Rhys Bombaci (AUS), Nat Young (USA) and Teppie Tejima (Japan).

The final two heats of the day saw the top two scoring performances with Hawaii's Mason Ho and French surfer Romain Cloitre both posting 14.33 heat tallies to win through to the final 24 surfers.

"It's a very enjoyable wave to surf," said Cloitre.

"The mornings are always good with offshore winds and I'm enjoying my time here."

With just 24 surfers remaining in the event, organizers are keen to etch out the best quality here and when the afternoon onshore wind came in today the event was called off and will recommence in expected excellent conditions first thing tomorrow morning.

Expectations are high that a increasing swell will see this event finish in epic conditions on Thursday' until then however we'll see more perfect medium sized waves for the coming rounds.