The brother-sister combination finished in the top two of their respective heats on Saturday (August 6) as the event returned to the Port Macquarie-Hastings region for the first time in nearly a decade.

Surfing Australia contest director Glen Elliott said it was "great" to bring the event back to town.

"It's been seven years we've been away from Port Macquarie so we're rotating [the event] through and are stoked to be back," he said.

"It's a wave-rich haven and we happen to be down at one of the best - North Haven - for some pretty contestable waves."

To escape elimination and a crack at $4000 in prizemoney, the Enfield's will now have to finish in the top two of their heats for the remainder of the competition with the finals to take place on Wednesday (August 10).

"That (the prizemoney) is nothing to shirk about and it's important we do have the same prizemoney for both genders these days," Elliott said.

The open-age event has attracted teenage grommets all the way up to those at "the ripe old age of 70".

Surf conditions are expected to be favourable for the next couple of days with North Haven likely to be the venue until the championships move to the longboard divisions from August 11.

"The longboards are usually very well supported from all around Australia and we've got all states represented so it will be a fantastic event," Elliott said.

"I'm expecting it to be really good waves into next weekend, so it's exciting."

Head to https://australiansurfchampionships.com to check the schedule.