Unlikely as it sounds, a healthy, happy retirement can be found in the waves that roll ashore at Diamond Head.

That's where Louis "Lui" Ling has gone nearly every day since he left the working world 16 years ago. With his bodyboard slung over his shoulder and his swim fins hanging from his fingers, he'll scramble down a goat trail to the beach and the crashing waves beyond.

The 75-year-old Ling wouldn't start his days any other way.

"Me and this other guy, we go out every day, rain or shine, storms, lightning strikes, we are there," Ling said. "I missed one day this year because of a marathon or something. Last year, I missed three days. One day because of a biopsy on my colon. But I went out the next day."

Ling used to hit the waves with a group of seven retirees, but their ranks have dwindled. Some have moved too far away to make the drive regularly. One friend stopped because the hike was too hard on his knee. He was 80.

"He has a gimpy knee," Ling said. "He couldn't get up and down the hill. It's kind of steep."

Ling was a refrigeration container mechanic for Matson for 25 years. Before that, the Wai'alae Nui resident was an aircraft mechanic for Lockheed and Hawaiian Airlines. He had always been a board surfer, but even though he loved it, he couldn't get out as often as he wanted.

Retirement gave him the freedom he wanted.

Typically, Ling will leave his house in Wai'alae Nui at 5 a.m. to get a good parking spot at Diamond Head, then talk story with friends before hitting the surf about 6:30 a.m. He'll surf for nearly two hours at breaks roughly 300 yards offshore.

Riding in and kicking out is a workout that's kept Ling strong. His thighs look like those of a bicycle racer, and he has calves the size of coffee cans. Long rides typically require a 5-minute return trip to the lineup, which is all part of the workout. But older folks need leg muscles, Ling said.

"You are not as sturdy on your legs when you are older," he said. "Your legs are not as strong. So bodyboarding is giving me the exercise I need."

The waves at Diamond Head are at their largest in the summer, and this year has been exceptional. Ling caught waves that towered above him with faces of 6 feet or more. Each one was an adrenaline rush because Ling knows the consequences of a bad wipeout: He's been rolled across the bottom.

"You get nervous when it's real big," he said. "I think if I should stop and think about it, then I would hesitate to go out. But as long as I just go out there and chance it, it's all right."

That's not surprising, even for a surfer in his 70s. The lure of the wave is just as powerful as the wave itself.

"It's fun to catch a nice wave and to make it," Ling said. "When I slide down the face of the wave and I am barreling along, I am yelling and screaming. I am having fun."