SEATTLE -- From Westport, Washington to La Push, surfing stirs up big waves in the hearts of its fans. But when it comes to giant waves, one man stands alone.

Laird Hamilton began riding the waves when he was 3 years old. Now at 44, he's known as the King of Surfing and riding the biggest waves known to man.

Hamilton is married to model Gabriel Reece with whom he has three daughters. He's never met a monster wave he didn't want to tame.

Normally, when you see Hamilton, he's a speck of humanity riding a surfboard on giant waves. But on Thursday he set foot on land in Seattle to promote his new book and movie, and to talk about his life as a water man.

"Being in the water is good, and then surfing is like the bonus, you know. It's like all of a sudden, you get to ride a wave, too," he said.

Hamilton lives on the edge, towing disaster for a living, riding waves that can literally break you in half.

"There's a difference between doing something dangerous, and then just being crazy," he said. "Crazy people just do things without really any knowledge of the repercussions. When you're trying to do this day in and day out, year after year, you have to be a lilt bit more methodical and intelligent about how you go about it."

The man has guts. No wave is too big. But never call him fearless.

"There's a certain ignorance that happens to the fearless. If you see waves 60, 70, 80 feet high, and you're not scared, then you're not being realistic about the power of them; you're not respecting them.

"Fear gives you power, you know, fear makes you smart. It makes you strong. And hopefully, it makes you live longer," he said.

Hamilton willingly attacks all the ocean dares to swirl up, sacrificing his body on a quest to be the world's best big wave surfer.

"At the end of the day, there's a price for everything, and broken bones are a small price to pay for the thrills and the joys," he said. "And I think at the end of the day, it's really a test of your commitment -- how committed are you? If you get a little cut or break a little bone, does that just deter you from your goal? Then obviously, you weren't really driven to achieve it."

When he's not surfing, he's thinking about new ways to ride waves. Hamilton loves to paddle board. He says it's like kayaking while standing up. Then there's the hydro foil, a short surfboard attached to a long pole, leading down to what is the equivalent of an airplane under the water.

"That desire to keep my love for the ocean and surfing strong...I just keep looking for new ways to do it. And it's been working," Hamilton said.

While he continues to revolutionize his sport, Hamilton never loses focus on the individual pursuit that is surfing.

"There's no right or wrong way to ride a wave. It's your way, and then let people decide if they like it or not," he said.

Hamilton is always looking for the next big challenge. At some point, he plans on crossing the Bering Strait on his paddle board. He hasn't set a date yet.

Hamilton's new movie "Water Man", which was filmed in Indonesia, is now available on DVD. His book, Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul (And, of Course, Surfing), is now in stores.