Goodbye SoHo, Hello NoFlo? How North Florida’s Watersound Area Is Becoming New York’s Hottest Place

Tired of the cold? A new ad campaign calling NoFlo (Northwest Florida) “New York’s hottest new place” is counting on it.

While city dwellers are stuck in the snow and cold, “Visit Watersound” posters featuring beautiful ocean scenes are plastered on New York City’s subways and throughout the city. And in this age of hats, gloves, and so many layers, these promotions are getting the attention of New Yorkers. (The sea call is stronger when it’s below zero outside.)

But what is this Watersound place all about, and why is NoFlo suddenly being presented as the perfect “escape” for New Yorkers?

It turns out that it has always been there, but the reasons for visiting or moving to this place have become more specific.

By the end of 2025, Delta is launching a daily nonstop route between Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) and LaGuardia Airport in New York.

“This route is the first to connect the community of Watersound with New York, which is the largest center in the country,” he said. Mike Kerriganvice president of marketing and communications for The St. Joe Company, a diversified real estate company with residential, hospitality, and commercial divisions responsible for developing a large portion of the NoFlo property.

“Prior to this flight, the lack of convenient air service eliminated the Watersound community as a convenient option for New Yorkers looking for a Florida vacation or considering moving to Florida. This new route removes that barrier.”

Indeed, accessibility to air has led to this relaunch of advertising to introduce New York and other Northeast residents to the Florida Panhandle area that many have passed through. After digging a little deeper (and scratching the surface of a trip to the beach in January), it’s clear that there are plenty of reasons to give Watersound a look in any season!

Where exactly in Florida are we talking about here?

While NoFlo (Northwest Florida) is the name used in New York City advertising campaigns, local Floridians call the area SoWal, because it lies in the southern part of Walton County.

As it straddles the Gulf of Mexico, there are beautiful white-sand beaches (this region is known as the Emerald Coast for a reason), with the main drag along the beautiful coastline of Highway 30A.

“Residents and people from the South and Southeast who have been visiting here forever just call this area ’30A,’ and it runs 26 miles from Inlet Beach to a place called Dune Allen Beach,” it said. Allison Freemana highly productive estate agent with The Premier Property Group in the luxury market of 30A.

From there, however, unlike a city or other municipality, it is not neatly defined on the map.

“It’s confusing for everybody here because we have this whole city that is Santa Rosa Beach. But in between all of that, there are all these little neighborhoods and towns and integrated areas,” Freeman said.

And that includes New York City ad campaigns. Watersound is a master-planned community that is a collection of sites and experiences located within the 110,000-plus acres owned and developed by The St. Joe Company.

“Those places and experiences include residential communities, hotels and resorts, residences, shopping centers, health care facilities, a private members’ club, an international airport, and 50,000-plus acres of conservation land among others,” Kerrigan said. “White sand beaches with turquoise waters and vast pine forests are the geographical features that tie it all together.”

Why is Watersound advertising to New Yorkers right now?

Obviously cold weather and new direct flights aside, there are many reasons why Watersound is now attracting New Yorkers.

For many years, Northwest Florida has drawn mainly people from the southeast.

“People who vacation and finally ‘stay’ there tend to come from Atlanta, Tennessee, and Texas. It’s easier for them to get to the Panhandle and have the warm weather and sugar-white sand beaches versus driving a few more hours south to Southwest Florida or the east coast of Florida,” it said. Dear Ameeragent and licensed Coldwell Banker in California and Florida.

According to Kerrigan, recently, that catchment area has expanded to include the Midwest, mid-Atlantic regions, and, to a lesser extent, the Northeast. Much of that expansion is due to the growth of the local airport, Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP).

In fact, the number of air passengers in the area has grown from about 300,000 just 15 years ago, to nearly 2 million annual passengers today with flights to seven of the country’s 10 largest cities.

“For decades, New Yorkers have looked to Florida for winter vacations, relocation, and retirement, but the community of Watersound and Northwest Florida as a whole has never been part of that set of considerations,” Kerrigan said.

But now that they can get to the Watersound area in less than 2.5 hours from LaGuardia Airport, it’s a different ball game.

“We hear it over and over again from first-time visitors, especially those from the Northeast: ‘I didn’t know this was here.’ After that first visit, the Watersound community becomes an annual vacation tradition for travelers and an attractive place to relocate or retire,” added Kerrigan.

The ad campaign, which started in December 2025, seems to be working as New Yorkers find out about this previously inaccessible gem.

“The campaign is still very new, having just been launched in December. However, in that short period of time, we have seen an increase of about 1,500% in weekly visitors from New York to www.watersound.com as our marketing campaign has taken off and New Yorkers are looking for more information,” said Kerrigan.

Hotel bookings followed, which seemed to be a “gateway drug” for long stays in the area.

“We often refer to our hotels as the ‘front doors’ of the Watersound community,” Kerrigan said. There is a natural sequence that occurs when travelers visit the area for the first time, stay at one of the hotels, and fall in love with the Watersound community.

“They become loyal hotel customers and, before long, begin to consider Watersound as a place to relocate, buy a second home, or retire, depending on their stage of life.”

What type of person will succeed in the Watersound area?

For New Yorkers who want to get out of the cold but opt ​​for something a little quieter, Watersound might be just the ticket.

“If you’re looking for a slower pace of life and not so much nightlife, shopping, and the overall extravagant lifestyle, NoFlo is a great place to be,” says Ameer. “You can come as you are and don’t worry about pleasing people. Peaceful wealth likes this place for this reason.”

Although NoFlo is a luxury market, since it doesn’t get as warm as many places in the south in the winter, its prices tend to be reasonable. It also attracts a different clientele than the “standard” snowbird escape.

“Palm Beach and Miami are favorite vacation spots for New Yorkers, but they share many of the same pain points that New Yorkers feel at home: the crowds, the fast pace, the congestion,” Kerrigan said. “At Watersound, especially during the winter holidays, visitors find something different: peace and quiet, quiet, quiet.”

That difference is reflected in an ad campaign that urges people to “Trade the hustle and bustle of NYC for the tranquility of NoFLo.”

Plus, NoFlo has different locations, so “there really is something for everyone as there’s a different style at each 30A location,” says Freeman, who lives in the Watersound Origins area himself.

He explains that Watersound has a lot of that New England feel to it, with a mix of homes and sand dunes lined with beautiful roads. Rosemary Beach is European Colonial/US Southern style, and Seaside is on the South Coast. Alys Beach is white and luxurious.

“It’s very sleepy and probably our most expensive market here and has a lot of an Antiguan or Bermudian feel,” said Freeman of Alys Beach.

Prices can also fluctuate, depending on where the home buyer is looking: inland or in the Gulf.

For example, in the Watersound area alone, there is wide variation. According to Kerrigan, these are the price ranges in the fastest growing areas:

• Watersound Origins: $500,000 to $3 million-plus
• Watersound Camp Creek: $4 million to $6 million (new construction homes)
• Ward Creek: $270,000 to $750,000-plus
• Latitude Margaritaville Watersound: $300,000 to $1 million-plus (55-plus working age community)

Similarly, NoFlo hotels can range anywhere from $97 to $500 per night in the winter.

But the good thing about this place is that all the places near the 30A tunnel are connected.

“We have a bike path or a road that goes along 26 miles of highway 30A, so that’s great because it connects people because they can ride their bikes, run, and walk their dogs. It’s very outdoors,” Freeman said.

“People are always cruising and can walk from town to town to have lunch or see live music outside of a coffee shop, and there’s always something going on like wine festivals or this weekend’s 30A Songwriters Festival that people come in from all over the country.”

Growth, growth, but not all

Several factors have led to Watersound’s rapid growth over the past few years. The area has benefited from post-COVID-19 migration and an increase in the popularity of remote work, which has brought many Americans from the Midwest and Northeast to the Southeast.

“Homebuyers are also attracted to the quality of life, quality schools, and the sense of security that residents experience in Watersound,” added Kerrigan.

However, the 30A market is one of those areas with higher than average inventory levels. For now, according to Freeman, 30A is a buyer’s market.

And while many people have holiday or second homes in the area, the number of full-time residents is also growing.

“The number of local people working full-time is growing as evidenced by the schools and several roads that have been built in the past few years,” said Kerrigan.

Watersound was recently listed among the top 25 well-planned communities for new home sales in 2025, with 582 homes, and all of the homes included in that number are in areas that do not allow short-term rentals. (This means those buyers are full-time residents or actual owners of a second home, not speculators or investors.)