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Casago SoCal, a DBA of Acme CA Vacations, Inc. · Michael Flannery · CA DRE #02439360.
Monterey · Carmel · Pacific Grove · Santa Cruz · Capitola · Aptos
Two counties, five incorporated cities and two county ordinances around one bay — and in two of those cities a short stay is simply not allowed. Casago runs pricing, marketing and damp-coast maintenance one home at a time, and the jurisdiction question gets answered before anything is promised.
Existing owner? Access your Owner Portal
The three Ms here
A number for “the Monterey Bay area” means almost nothing when a Pacific Grove parcel, a Capitola Village parcel and a Live Oak parcel answer to three different authorities and one of them may have no headroom left. Every plan starts with which one the home sits in.
Management of revenue
Some homes here can take short stays, some can only take hosted stays, and some cannot take them at all. Rates, minimum stays and owner dates are set inside whatever the parcel is actually allowed to do, not around what the neighbours are doing.
Marketing the home
Photography and copy built on what is true: a walk to the water in Pacific Grove, a Capitola Village morning, a Live Oak surf break, a redwood drive inland. Not a borrowed sunshine promise this coast does not keep.
Maintenance and care
The City of Monterey’s own page notes that foggy days and high water tables can result in excessive environmental moisture. Ventilation, drying, drainage and exterior hardware get a schedule. Approvals route to you before work starts.
Guest fit
This is a cool coastal market. See Monterey describes crisp coastal air and, on its meetings pages, a consistently mild climate with an average temperature of 60 °F. Visit Santa Cruz County describes great surf, sandy beaches, redwood-covered mountains and laid-back towns, and calls fall the season with the best weather. Guests are not coming for a pool deck. They are coming for water, forest, food and a village walk, often over two or three nights.
Neighborhood lenses
The area story has to match the home’s real location, route, parking and private rules — and, before any of that, its jurisdiction. Two of these cards are deliberately not links, because there is nothing to send you to.
City of Monterey
The strongest visitor story on the Peninsula and no short-stay plan to build on it. The City says any house rental of less than 30 days is illegal in Monterey and that it actively enforces. There is no owner path here to present.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
The City says no home or subordinate unit may be rented for less than 30 consecutive days in the residential district, and publishes no exception process. Check whether the parcel is actually in the city before concluding anything.
Pacific Grove
The quieter end of the Peninsula, and the one Monterey County city with an open STR licence path — but new applicants are limited to the Coastal and Commercial areas.
Open Pacific Grove pulseSanta Cruz & Capitola
Santa Cruz issues hosted permits and says it will not issue new non-hosted ones. Capitola allows vacation rentals only inside its VRU overlay district. Both are city-limits questions.
Open Santa Cruz & Capitola pulseLive Oak · Pleasure Point · Aptos
Unincorporated Santa Cruz County, with designated areas, per-area caps, a block-density rule and a first-applied, first-issued queue. This is where most of the serviceable inventory sits.
Open the county pulseNot sure which lens fits?
The owner playbook works through area fit, seasons, amenities and the jurisdiction question, one answer at a time, with every source linked and dated.
Open the playbookThe operating year
Qualitative planning context from official visitor and city sources. Not a demand forecast and not a revenue allocation.
Rain entry protection, drain and gutter checks, exterior lighting and moisture observation. Guests plan around the Aquarium, galleries, dining and storm-watching rather than the beach.
Exterior furniture, pathways, gear storage and garden readiness back in order after the wet months. Parking and arrival notes rechecked and sent before arrival, not on arrival.
Fast sandy turnovers, wet-gear routines, honest messaging about grey mornings that burn off, and clear house rules for family and Boardwalk stays on residential streets.
Visit Santa Cruz County calls fall the season with the best weather, and See Monterey lists the Monterey Jazz Festival for 25–27 September 2026. Refresh photography and guides, then get the exterior ready for winter.
Amenities with a purpose
Two counties, five cities, one coastal zone
A marketing area is not a permit boundary. Match the parcel to its city or its unincorporated county first, then check zoning, the coastal zone, taxes and private restrictions separately. There is no single rule for this coast, and anyone who offers you one is guessing.
Stated plainly, because owners keep being told otherwise. The City of Monterey’s Code Compliance page, checked 2026-09-20, says any house rental of less than 30 days is illegal in Monterey, cites City Code section 22-19.5, and says the City actively enforces it. Carmel-by-the-Sea’s page, checked the same day, says no home or subordinate unit may be rented for less than 30 consecutive days in the residential district. Neither city publishes a permit, licence or waiting list to join. A 30-day-plus stay is a different question. And a Carmel or Monterey mailing address is not proof of a city parcel — many sit in unincorporated Monterey County, which runs its own licence framework. See the full regulation watch.
| Property area / authority | What to check | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the incorporated City of MontereyCity of Monterey | The City states any house rental of less than 30 days is illegal in Monterey, cites City Code section 22-19.5 and says it actively enforces. No permit or licence path is published. | No owner path today City of Monterey |
| Inside the incorporated City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, residential districtCity of Carmel-by-the-Sea | The City states no home or subordinate unit may be rented for less than 30 consecutive days in the residential district. No permit or exception process is published. | No owner path in the residential district City of Carmel-by-the-Sea |
| Inside the incorporated City of Pacific GroveCity of Pacific Grove | A licence is required under 30 days. New STR applicants are limited to the Coastal and Commercial areas, with a 250 city-wide cap, 84 active when checked, a 55-foot zone of exclusion and one per parcel. Home Sharing is citywide and not subject to the cap. | City of Pacific Grove |
| Inside the incorporated City of Santa CruzCity of Santa Cruz | A permit and a TOT certificate are required. 250 hosted permits are available first come, first served; the City states it will not issue new non-hosted permits, and prohibits STRs on a property with both a single-family home and an ADU or JADU. | City of Santa Cruz |
| Inside the incorporated City of CapitolaCity of Capitola | Vacation rentals are allowed only inside the Vacation Rental Use overlay district. The City states homes outside it may not be rented as vacation rentals. Inside it: permit, business licence, monthly TOT, parking review. | City of Capitola |
| Unincorporated Monterey County, including Pebble Beach, Carmel Highlands and Big SurCounty of Monterey Housing and Community Development | A Vacation Rental Operation License under MCC Chapter 7.120. Inland rules effective October 14, 2024; coastal Ordinance 5439 effective October 24, 2025. Detached single-family dwellings only. Commercial, Limited and Homestay are different licences. Specific terms are under a litigation-driven suspension. | County of Monterey Housing and Community Development |
| Unincorporated Santa Cruz County, including Live Oak, Pleasure Point, Aptos, Seacliff, La Selva Beach, Davenport and the San Lorenzo ValleyCounty of Santa Cruz Unified Permit Center | Hosted and non-hosted permits with per-area caps across Davenport/Swanton, Live Oak, Seacliff/Aptos/La Selva Beach and outside the designated areas, a block-density rule, first-applied first-issued and bi-annual availability review. | County of Santa Cruz Unified Permit Center |
| Any parcel inside the California coastal zone, in either countyCalifornia Coastal Commission | Coastal Act considerations sit on top of the local rule. The Commission’s 2016 guidance says coastal-zone vacation rental regulation must run through a local coastal program or a coastal development permit. | California Coastal Commission |
| California taxes and transient occupancy taxState of California, then the city or county with jurisdiction | No statewide lodging tax exists to register for. CDTFA administers sales and use tax plus special taxes and fees; transient occupancy tax is imposed by the city or county covering the parcel. | State of California City of Pacific Grove City of Capitola County of Monterey Housing and Community Development |
| HOA, condominium, deed, lease and insurance documentsPrivate governing documents | No public source decides whether a private community permits the use, the parking or the amenity access. Read the documents and get any determination in writing. | Further verification needed |
Each row is expanded with its official source link and check date in the regulation watch.
Programs that travel with the home
Base management runs the fundamentals. Defined programs cover guest readiness, utility control, preventative care and connectivity, each confirmed for your property rather than sold as a set.
360 Service Bundle
Linen and terry, Smart Home, preventative maintenance, AdVantage marketing and managed connectivity, with what is included made explicit.
Explore the programsSmart Home Program
Casago’s smart home platform ties thermostats and locks to the booking calendar, which matters more on a damp coast than on a hot one: an empty house should not be heating itself, and an arriving guest should not walk into a cold one.
See how it worksOwner decision tools
Owner-use calendar capacity and amenity break-even, every input labeled as yours or illustrative. Educational, not a quote.
Open the toolsKeep researching
No. The City of Monterey’s Code Compliance page, checked 2026-09-20, states that any house rental of less than 30 days is illegal in Monterey, names the ordinance at Monterey City Code section 22-19.5, and says the City actively enforces it. There is no application, licence, cap or waiting list published. A stay of 30 days or more is a different use under that rule and a separate conversation. Before you conclude either way, confirm the parcel really is inside city limits — a Monterey mailing address is not proof.
Also no, in the residential district. The City’s short-term rental page, checked 2026-09-20, states that no home or subordinate unit may be rented for less than 30 consecutive days in the residential district, and publishes no permit or exception process. Confirm which district the parcel is in, and confirm it is in the city at all: many homes with a Carmel address sit in unincorporated Monterey County, where the County’s own licence framework applies instead.
Three places, on the sources checked 2026-09-20. Pacific Grove is accepting new STR licence applications first-come, first-serve, but only for property in its Coastal or Commercial areas, under a 250 city-wide cap. The City of Santa Cruz offers 250 owner-occupied or hosted permits first come, first served, while stating it will not issue new non-hosted permits. Capitola allows vacation rentals only inside its Vacation Rental Use overlay district. Unincorporated Santa Cruz County and unincorporated Monterey County both run permit frameworks with their own limits. Whether headroom exists for your parcel today is a question for that authority.
It adds a layer. In a December 6, 2016 letter to coastal planning directors, the California Coastal Commission wrote that vacation rental regulation in the coastal zone must occur within a local coastal program or be authorised by a coastal development permit, that it constitutes development to which the Coastal Act and LCPs must apply, and that it does not believe regulation outside that context, including outright bans through other local processes, is legally enforceable in the coastal zone. That is guidance about how local programs get certified. It is not a permit, it does not override a city’s published position, and no owner should read it as permission.
No. CC&Rs, condominium rules, leases, deed restrictions and insurance conditions are private controls and can be stricter than any public rule. Around this bay that includes gated community documents, beach-adjacent condominium rules and Carmel-area deed restrictions. Read them and get any determination in writing before the home is marketed.
This public site does not calculate property-specific results and publishes no occupancy or rate figures. Choose See your property’s opportunity to continue to the Owner Portal and select I’m considering the program. Existing owners sign in as an owner.
Next step
Continue to the Owner Portal for a property-specific conversation. Prospective owners choose I'm considering the program. Existing owners sign in as an owner. Nothing about your home is sent from this page.
