We use cookies. We use cookies, including analytics, to improve your experience.
Casago SoCal, a DBA of Acme CA Vacations, Inc. · Michael Flannery · CA DRE #02439360.
Santa Cruz and Capitola · Neighborhood pulse
Both cities permit short-term rentals, and both have closed most of the room. One issues hosted permits only; the other allows them inside a single overlay district.
Existing owner? Access your Owner Portal
The City of Santa Cruz and the City of Capitola are separate incorporated cities, and neither is the same as unincorporated Santa Cruz County. Santa Cruz requires an STR permit and a TOT certificate, offers 250 owner-occupied or hosted permits first come, first served, and states it will not be issuing new non-hosted permits. Capitola permits vacation rentals only inside its Vacation Rental Use overlay district and states that homes outside it may not be rented as vacation rentals. Both pages were checked on 2026-09-20.
Visit Santa Cruz County describes great surf, sandy beaches, redwood-covered mountains and laid-back towns across a 29-mile coastline, names Capitola a colourful beach town, and calls fall the season with the best weather. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk anchors a family story; Pleasure Point and the breaks nearby anchor a surf one; Capitola Village anchors a walk-everywhere one.
Practically that means three different homes. A Boardwalk-adjacent family house needs capacity, durable finishes and a realistic parking story. A surf house needs wet-gear handling above almost anything else. A Capitola Village home sells the walk, and should not oversell the parking.
The City requires both a short-term rental permit and a Transient Occupancy Tax certificate. It defines hosted as an STR where the owner lives in the home for more than six months per year, and non-hosted as an owner who does not live there or lives there less than six months a year.
The decisive statement is that the City will not be issuing new non-hosted STR permits, while several existing, legally permitted and operating non-hosted STRs will be allowed to continue. New capacity is hosted: the City states 250 owner-occupied or hosted permits are available on a first come, first served basis, and a hosted application requires three proofs of principal residency alongside site plans, floor plans and photographs. The City also states that short-term rentals are prohibited on properties containing both a single-family home and an ADU or JADU, and that it has 30 calendar days to review an application once fees are paid.
Anything that depends on an existing legacy non-hosted permit needs address-level confirmation in writing. Do not assume a permit transfers with a sale, and do not assume a listing you can see online is permitted.
Capitola defines a vacation rental as a residential home or portion of a home rented for less than 30 days, at Section 17.160.020. Whether a Capitola home may be one is decided by location. The City has established a Vacation Rental Use overlay district which it describes as Capitola Village, Riverview Avenue as far north as city hall, as far west as Cliff Drive, as far east as Monterey Avenue and as far south as Capitola Beach, shown on a City map.
Inside the district a vacation rental permit and a business licence are required, planning staff review the application for zoning and parking compliance, the business licence renews annually, and transient occupancy tax must be reported monthly including months with no occupancy. Outside the district, the City states homes may not be rented as vacation rentals and may only be operated as long-term rentals of 30 nights or more. The City also states it has been taking inventory of non-compliant vacation rentals on online platforms since June 2015, and that owners renting outside the VRU zone or without proper permits will be ordered to cease and may face daily fines.
The most common mistake here is jurisdictional. Live Oak, Pleasure Point, Aptos, Seacliff and La Selva Beach are unincorporated Santa Cruz County, not the City of Santa Cruz and not Capitola, and the County runs an entirely different framework with designated areas and caps. A Santa Cruz mailing address proves nothing about which of the three applies.
Confirm the parcel with the relevant authority in writing before planning anything, and check whether it sits in the coastal zone. The California Coastal Commission’s 2016 guidance names Santa Cruz County among the communities with certified local coastal program vacation rental rules going back over a decade, so the coastal-zone treatment of a parcel is a real question rather than a formality.
Keep researching this coast
No. The City states it will not be issuing new Non-Hosted STR permits, while several existing, legally permitted and operating non-hosted STRs will be allowed to continue. New permits are hosted: 250 owner-occupied or hosted permits on a first come, first served basis, with hosted defined as the owner living in the home for more than six months per year. Checked 2026-09-20.
No. The City states that vacation rentals may be operated only within the Vacation Rental Use overlay district — Capitola Village, Riverview Avenue as far north as city hall, west to Cliff Drive, east to Monterey Avenue and south to Capitola Beach — and that homes outside this area may not be rented as vacation rentals and may only be operated as long-term rentals of 30 nights or more.
In the City of Santa Cruz, yes. It states that short-term rentals are prohibited on properties containing both a single-family home and an ADU or JADU, while allowing existing legal ADU STRs to continue. Unincorporated Santa Cruz County also prohibits short-term rentals on properties containing an ADU or JADU. Confirm your own configuration with the authority that covers the parcel.
No. Pleasure Point, Live Oak, Aptos, Seacliff and La Selva Beach are unincorporated Santa Cruz County, governed by the County’s own short-term rental ordinance with designated-area caps and a block-density rule. The city pages on this page do not apply to them.
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.
