30A local Walt Hartley finds his calling, just offshore.
It's Spring Break on Scenic Highway 30A — our slice of paradise along the Florida Gulf Coast. Every inch of sand is lined with umbrellas and beach chairs set up for the wave of visitors from Dallas to Detroit. Real estate agents are busy persuading vacation-house hungry buyers that 1,200 sq. ft. of new build 'north of the 98' is the beach house of their dreams.
But there is a place along this coast where acres of untouched sand remain. Where you can spend the day miles from your nearest neighbor, and the sound of country-pop, loud telephone-talkers, and screaming kids never penetrates.
The locals know where it is, and for a modest fee, they will take you there.
Ask Walt Hartley.
Walt runs Dive30A and Snorkel30A, and he will happily take you and your party out into the Gulf — away from the screaming and shouting hordes — anchor up above one of the many dive hot spots and sand bars along this coast, and let you float and cruise through the emerald waters.
Two-thirds of a surfboard
Born in Dallas, Texas, Walt moved to Seagrove as a young kid and wasn't immediately struck by the beauty of the beach.
"Like any other pouting pre-teen, I couldn't immediately see what the attraction was to all those miles of empty beach. When I swam in the salty water, it stung my eyes, and I longed for the urban life we'd left behind in Dallas," said Walt.
Walt worked in the Seagrove Village Market his father had bought in 1999 and moodily explored the dune lakes, forests, and beaches in his free time.
"It was on one of my long beach walks that things changed," he recalled. "Hunting around under the beach access points, I found a battered old surfboard under the boardwalk near our house. Well, it was probably two-thirds of a surfboard, but for an 11-year-old, it opened a world of possibilities."
"It felt like this new opportunity had just dropped into my lap, and I started spending more and more time messing around in the wave breaks and paddling my beat up old board along the beach."
Things conspired to move fast for Walt.
"I got a job offer from Chris Webb who ran one of the very first beach service teams down at Rosemary Beach, so I ditched the kitchens at my dad's place for working on the sand," said Walt. "I met Ridge Nye and his son Nicholas, a huge influence on me, and after spending time in the dive pool in Destin, the summer I turned 12, I picked up my PADI Junior Open Water Diver Certification. I thought I was the coolest kid in school."
But this new-found love of the water and what lay underneath was to shape a philosophy Walt has lived by ever since.
"I needed to have an activity, something to occupy me, no matter what the weather and sea conditions looked like," said Walt. "If the Gulf was flat calm then I was out fishing or snorkeling, if there was a decent breeze, I'd pull out the Hobie 16 catamaran, and if the waves were up, I was out on my longboard."
Springs, caves, and a film degree
Diving and working the beach, Walt settled into life along 30A. His parents took him on a diving trip to the Florida Keys where Walt was amazed by the wealth of marine life he saw. Returning north, he started diving and exploring the fresh water springs that dot the landscape of Northwest Florida.
"The water was so clear and pristine, and when I shined a light under some of the ledges, I could see they opened up into a full-on underwater cave system," recalled Walt. "I knew better than to go into an underwater cave without the proper training and equipment, but my curiosity was piqued."
Graduating high school, Walt headed off to Boston College but the pull of the warm waters in South Florida saw him transfer to University of Miami to complete his BSc in Film and Motion Pictures.
Bouncing around jobs in Colorado, California, and Texas, Walt headed back to 30A in 2013 to set up his video and film production company.
"I met Andy McAlexander who had recently founded the South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA), and in 2015, when they received their permits to create the first of the now 16 reefs off the 30A coast, they wanted a video created. This was my destiny — working in film, diving, and living along this precious coast."
Learning more about the work SWARA was doing, Walt joined the board in 2016 and became a passionate advocate of marine conservation, expanding the coastal habitat, and managing issues along the coast of Scenic 30A.
"I started spending more time out on the water," Walt recalled. "I had a crude GPS. I was trying to master the art of dropping anchor exactly where I wanted to be, and I was seeing sharks, octopuses, and sea turtles up close."
Snorkel30A, then Dive30A
It was then that Walt recognized there was a business opportunity there.
"There were no dive shops in Walton County. If you wanted to dive the reefs, it was a two-hour boat ride to Destin, one-way," he said. "I set up Snorkel30A in 2017. We would meet clients on the beach, pile them onto our giant raft, and use our kayaks to paddle them out to the reefs — whether that was the Grayton Beach Turtle or Inlet Beach Grouper. Arriving by kayak, with no noise in order not to disturb the marine life, and the giant raft we still use served as a great dive platform for guests to explore from."
Walt decided to expand his underwater adventure businesses to include SCUBA diving.
"I worked closely with the county for the entirety of 2019 to get a new class of beach launch permits created that would allow us to take divers out to our local sites. I got the first SCUBA Launch permit in Walton County and invested in a dive boat, trailer, compressors, and other key operational infrastructure and kit," said Walt.
In 2018, the Underwater Museum of Art opened off 30A's coast and attracted a lot of attention. National Geographic wanted to do something and needed a suitably qualified underwater cameraman. They went to see Walt.
In 2020, Walt opened Dive30A, and of course, it was immediately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To deal with the crisis, the authorities temporarily closed the beaches, a challenge for many businesses, including Walt's fledgling enterprise.
But Walt persevered, and now the business is thriving.
"Last year we probably did just shy of 100 charters in the summer season and took more than 600 snorkelers out to the snorkel reefs. We also offer training, classes, and certification. We've offered Dive Master internships and provide expanded support for citizen science and other volunteer dive teams," said Walt.
The natural world is still king
And the dive scene in South Walton continues to grow.
The Underwater Museum of Art (UMA) is preparing for its fifth deployment of sculptures and works of art to be submerged on sand bars off the coast. The one-acre patch of seabed off Grayton Beach State Park, the nation's first permanent underwater gallery, provides a source of biological replenishment and protective marine habitat, offering divers and snorkelers the chance to view creative art and the wonders of the Gulf at the same time.
"We are so lucky to call this place home. I have grown to love this area and 30A's coastal and marine ecosystems deserve our protection," said Walt. "While development, traffic, and human activity are changing our way of life on land, out here in the Gulf, the natural world is still king."
Story by Martin Liptrot. Photos by Guillaume Lechat.
To learn more about Walt and to join him on his underwater adventures, follow Dive30A + Snorkel30A on Facebook (@snorkel30A).
Originally published in Beach Happy Magazine, Issue 12 — Spring 2023.
