Captain Mark

After a hitch in the US Navy in the late 80’s where Captain Mark was stationed aboard a rescue diving and salvage vessel and had learned to dive he then moved to Cape Hatteras Island N.C. where he continued his dive training amongst the many shipwrecks along the coast. Spearfishing became his passion while hook and line fishing became a close second while waiting between dives. At this same time Mark had joined the local fire department putting naval training to use as a fire fighter. About the same time the department began an ocean rescue unit. Mark was among the founders of this new unit earning Captain of the beach launch boat rescue and dive team. Feeling the need for warmer weather and a place to teach people to enjoy what he enjoyed, scuba, Mark moved to the Emerald Coast and began a career teaching in Destin in 1995. By 1998 Mark had earned a spot among the top 20 worldwide PADI instructors to have taught the most students from open water to divemaster and had also earned his Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification and yet another milestone of having logged over 6000 dives from Destin to Panama City.

After deciding to settle down and get married Mark retired from teaching scuba only to find out in short order that a real job wasn’t for him and the desire to be on or in the water was calling him back to his passions of fishing and spearfishing. Grayton Beach seemed the logical place to go where he could put his beach launching experience to use to run his own charters into the Gulf of Mexico. Outside of a National Park Service demonstration given along Cape Hatteras or various local beach rescue operations, Grayton Beach is unique in being able to offer the only place in the country where charter operations happen right from the beach. Captain Mark cordially invites you along to share in this unique style as he enjoys sharing his experiences and passions with you. Whether your visiting the area or local, one way or another, let’s go catch some fish.