The final of the Pipeline pitted Slater against Seth Moniz, a 24-year-old whose father Tony competed against Slater decades ago.
“I was out there telling myself, just be in the moment, no matter how much tension there is.
The win was the 56th career victory for the ageless Slater over three decades of high-level competitive surfing.
As evidenced by the detention and deportation of tennis star Novak Djokovic last month ahead of the Australian Open, the country has required competing athletes to be vaccinated.