After inking a multi-year deal with Rip Curl earlier this month, Hawaiian Mason Ho has scored the ultimate hometown invitation, a wildcard into the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.

Ho landed in Victoria last night and hit Bells this morning (see video below), he said he was excited to return to where he won the Rip Curl GromSearch in 2005.

“I can’t stop thinking about how fun it's going to be, almost everything I’ve seen for a couple days has looked like a Bell that had to be rung,” Ho said.

“I absolutely love surfing in Australia. It was the first country I went to outside of the United States. And it's nice having the chance to build on family tradition at such a historical surfing event like Bells.”

Ho is the son of Michael Ho, who placed 6th at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in 1978. His uncle Derek was the 1993 World Champion and his younger sister Coco joined the Championship Tour in 2009.

Ho will meet either current World Champion Gabriel Medina or 3 x World Champion Mick Fanning in Round One.

He said he was anticipating some really high-risk maneuvers at the Rip Curl Pro this year, “I really want huge Bells, the bigger the better; extra drama."

“I just want to pick nice waves, slam the lip and ride all my good waves up the beach. I’ll be going into it super happy just having a chance, and I feel blessed to be a part of such a solid company like Rip Curl.”