Property Management in Cape San Blas, FL — Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals

Short-term rental and Airbnb management on Cape San Blas

Cape San Blas is the elbow of the St. Joseph Peninsula in Gulf County, with the Gulf on one side and St. Joseph Bay on the other. Cape San Blas Road runs its length past beach houses and small subdivisions, ending at the state park, and the rental stock is mainly houses rather than towers.

Property management in Cape San Blas is shaped by distance. The nearest groceries, hardware and hospital are in Port St. Joe across the bay, so cleaning, restocking and repairs need planning. Gulf County also registers and inspects every vacation rental home each year, a routine inspection that Walton County’s program, for example, does not include.

Where guests come from

T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park covers the northern end of the peninsula, at a Cape San Blas Road address. It has beaches, tall dunes, cabins and campsites, and it is a nesting area for shorebirds and sea turtles. St. Joseph Bay behind the cape draws kayakers and anglers.

Scalloping has long been part of the season here, but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission closed the 2026 season in its St. Joseph Bay and Gulf County zone, so guests should check each year. In Port St. Joe, the Cape San Blas Lighthouse and its related buildings now anchor George Core Park on the bayfront. Ascension Sacred Heart Gulf is on US 98 in Port St. Joe, and Indian Pass lies to the east. Guests usually fly into Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport near Panama City Beach.

Cape San Blas short-term rental rules

Gulf County Code §12-36, part of the county’s business license ordinance adopted as Ordinance 2021-03, requires every vacation rental home as defined by Florida Statute to register with the county on or before September 1 each year. Owners submit an annual application with a $100 vacation rental business license fee and receive a license number.

The same section says each vacation rental unit is inspected every year by the county building department for compliance with local and state rules. Violations of the business license article can be enforced by the sheriff or code enforcement, with fines of up to $500 per day and the license made inactive until the rental complies. The state DBPR vacation rental license is required on top of the county license.

Private covenants matter too. Subdivisions along Cape San Blas Road can have their own declarations, and we read them before listing a home.

Taxes on Cape San Blas vacation rentals

Rentals of six months or less carry Florida’s 6% sales tax under §212.03 and Gulf County’s 1% discretionary sales surtax from the DR-15DSS for 2026.

Gulf County’s tourist development tax is 5% on the state’s DR-15TDT chart, and the chart shows it is collected by the county rather than the state. Gulf County Code Chapter 38 sets out the tax and says the person receiving the rent charges it to the guest at the time of payment.

How Florida Hosts manages Cape San Blas rentals

Florida Hosts handles licensing and registration on the cape: the DBPR license, the Gulf County registration and the tax accounts. On Cape San Blas our Airbnb management covers the September county registration, the annual inspection visit, the tourist tax filings, pricing and 24/7 guest communication.

Our own cleaning and maintenance staff plan around the drive to the cape and the salt and sand that come with it. Short-term rental management is 18–25% of booking revenue, quoted in writing. We also manage mid-term furnished stays and long-term leases, with licensed brokers handling the leasing, and send a free rental projection within one business day.