Living at the Beach RSS Feed

Believe it or not – there’s a lot more to 30A than our gorgeous beaches! Scenic 30A and Southern Walton County is home to five award-winning Florida State Parks. You’ll find pristine beach front areas, elevated board walks over fragile dune areas, an abundance of hiking and biking trails within the park areas and it is a perfect place to enjoy the beach too! Many of the area’s parks feature our unique and rare Coastal Dune Lakes. Two of 30A’s State Parks: Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach State Park also have cabins for rent and camping facilities. 

Camp Helen State Park:

The park is located on the border of the Walton and Bay Counties in Inlet Beach; Camp Helen was once a summer retreat for employees of Avondale Mills in Alabama. The state…

Sometimes buyers choose to rent first, allowing them the option to get to know the area better before buying a permanent home. Long-term rentals in the 30A area of South Walton County are in high demand, difficult to find and usually don’t stay on the market very long. You or someone you know may be looking for a property to rent in South Walton, and if you’ve spent any time at all in your search, you know it can be a bit of a challenge.

While the Davis Properties team focuses their efforts on home, condo and lot sales, we also want to make sure we can help with anyone’s local 30A real estate needs in whatever capacity we can. Because we frequently receive inquiries about rental properties; we decided to put together a resource list to assist in…

Maybe you’ve just purchased your 30A dream home or maybe you’re still looking for that perfect South Walton place to call your own! Does the yard around it need help or perhaps a total “make-over” but you’re not sure where to start? This week we met with one of our favorite local landscape experts; Jen Jones, owner of Nature of the Beach who maintains a beautiful butterfly garden on the Davis Properties of Northwest Florida office grounds. Jen shared some of her advice and insight on how to approach a plan for gardening and best landscape choices here along our Northwest Florida Beaches. 

Jen Jones – Nature of the Beach, LLC

“When it comes to choosing what plants, shrubs or trees to select for use around your South Walton beach home, the best…

Generations of families have created memories, traditions and fun along the beaches of Scenic 30A but it hasn’t always been the ultra-vibrant, buzzing area that most know today. In the early 80’s the coastline was sparsely developed. Shops and restaurants who catered to visitors during busy spring and summer vacation months would “shutter” their businesses and close from Labor Day until the beginning of March. There weren’t enough visitors who knew about or were coming to South Walton to support employment and a year round economy during that time. 

Neighborhood town centers infuse small town energy at the beach

In 1982 Seaside Florida founder, Robert Davis broke ground on what would become a model for development projects locally, nationally and…

The beach communities of South Walton are definitely a growing, vibrant, flourishing place to live, work and play. From March to September, the area is teeming with families returning for a traditional beach pilgrimage and visitors who are experiencing our corner of paradise for the very first time. For those of us lucky to live on the 30A coastline for any period of time, we’ve seen this place morph into an area that’s overflowing with exciting places to eat and talented artisans who thrive and are inspired by the local environs. Maybe it’s the atmosphere or maybe there’s something in our beautiful Gulf waters but the entrepreneurial spirit is bursting at the seams all along 30A.

Live

This year we’ve seen the opening of 30 Avenue in Inlet Beach.…

Have you been to the beach lately and noticed a single bright colored flag flapping in the breeze? Maybe you thought to yourself, "hmmm, I wonder what that’s all about?" Along the Beaches of South Walton, we have a stellar South Walton Fire Department Life Guard program with seven stations posted along the beaches of 30A.

As part of the effort to keep everyone aware of surf conditions, a Flag Warning System is in place at all of the public beach access points. Depending on the weather and the day you go to the beach you’ll see any number of different colored flags flying.

The flags are changed depending on what is happening with the weather, surf and tides. Each color represents a specific surf advisory currently in effect:

GREEN: Low Hazard,…

If you’re lucky enough to live, work or play along the beaches of South Walton, it won’t take you long to also discover the incredible giving spirit found in our beach communities. Business and individuals alike are always ready to “step up to the plate” at any given time when there’s a call out for someone in need. Additionally so many fun and wonderfully creative events take place every year with many local non-profits reaping the benefit of the community’s giving spirit.

Walk Her Way happening this evening in Rosemary is the perfect example of what we’re talking about!

Whether you’re a full time homeowner, second home owner, or frequent visitor interested…

At first it would seem like a simple question with the most obvious answer being the quartz, sugar fine, white sandy beaches. If you’ve been to Northwest Florida you know that you can find these beautiful beaches all along the coast. So, lets dig a little deeper and really look at what sets the Beaches of 30A apart from neighboring beach communities. Ready – set – go! 

Referred to as “30A” by locals and a growing number of visitors, Scenic Highway 30A is an 18-mile, meandering coastal two lane highway in Southern Walton County Florida. It winds its way through some pretty amazing and unique areas and beach neighborhoods and communities. 

High Rise Dunes and Low Rise Buildings

For starters, 30A is home to some of the highest dune…