Cocoa Beach, FL short-term rental registration
Cocoa Beach put its vacation rentals under Chapter 26.5 of the city code, and the mechanism is a registration rather than a zoning line. Every vacation rental in the city has to register, online, with a fee, and a separate registration is required for each unit. What gives the rule its teeth is the counting: operating without a registration is a violation, and every single day of operation counts as a separate one. The only carve-out is honouring a contract signed before the registration requirement applied.[6]
Every rule below links to the official source it comes from, verified September 20, 2026.
Can you rent short term in Cocoa Beach?
Register before you list
What you apply for: Vacation Rental Property Registration
- Seasonal homes
- 2,242
- Housing units
- 9,052
- Residents
- 11,377
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-year estimates
- City ruleRegistration required
- City feeNone published
- Tax on each stay12%
- Seasonal homes248 per 1,000
Cocoa Beach vacation rental registration
Cocoa Beach requires every vacation rental in the city to register, under Chapter 26.5 of the city code. Owners register online, personally or through an agent, on the forms the city or its third-party vendor provides, and pay a registration fee. A separate registration is required for each vacation rental, so an owner with three units files three. What gives the rule its weight is how violations are counted: operating a vacation rental without registration is a violation, and every single day of such operation counts as a separate one, so exposure compounds rather than sitting as a one-off fine. The single carve-out is providing accommodation to fulfil a contract that pre-existed the registration requirement. The ordinance also carries safety standards, occupancy limits and noise rules alongside the registration itself.[6]
What Cocoa Beach asks of you
All vacation rentals in the city are required to register, and owners or authorised agents register online and pay a registration fee.[6]
Every owner registers personally or through an agent, on the forms the city or its third-party vendor provides.[7]
A separate registration is required for each vacation rental.[7]
Operating a vacation rental without registration is a violation, and every day of such operation is a separate violation.[7]
The only exception is providing accommodation to fulfil a contract that pre-existed the registration requirement.[7]
What Florida asks wherever you host
These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.
Florida licenses vacation rentals itself. A house, townhouse or unit in a building of four units or fewer is licensed as a dwelling, a unit in a condominium or cooperative as a condominium, and the licence costs $150 plus $10 per rental unit plus a $10 hospitality education fee.[2]
A city cannot ban vacation rentals, nor regulate how long or how often you rent, unless its ordinance was already on the books on June 1, 2011. Ordinances adopted before that date survive untouched, which is why two neighbouring Florida towns can sit at opposite ends of the scale.[1]
State sales tax is due on every rental of six months or less. A bona fide written lease for more than six months of continuous residence is exempt, and so is the seventh month onward once a guest has stayed and paid for six.[3]
What a guest pays on top of your nightly rate in Cocoa Beach
Each layer is set by a different authority, and not all of them are collected by the platform.
| Layer | Rate | Remitted to |
|---|---|---|
| Florida state sales tax[3] | 6% | The state revenue department |
| Brevard County discretionary sales surtax[5] | 1% | The state revenue department |
| Brevard County Tourist Development Tax[4] | 5% | The county |
| Total on a taxable stay | 12% |
Brevard's 1% surtax is one of the few in Florida with a near-term expiry, set for the end of 2026, so the 12% stack on a Space Coast stay is worth rechecking at the turn of the year.[5]
How short-term rental taxes work for US hostsWhat the census counts
How much of Cocoa Beach is already a second home
The Census Bureau counts 2,242 of Cocoa Beach's 9,052 homes as vacant for seasonal, recreational or occasional use — 248 out of every 1,000. That ranks Cocoa Beach 21st of the 33 Florida cities on this site for the share of its housing stock kept for part-year use.
- Rank in the state
- 21st of 33
- Share of housing
- 248 per 1,000
- Median home value
- $503,200
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-year estimates, tables B25004, B25001, B01003 and B25077.
Nearby and comparable
Where Cocoa Beach sits among its neighbors
Cape Canaveral, FL
Registration required
2,125 seasonal homes, 230 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in Cape CanaveralIndian Rocks Beach, FL
Registration required
851 seasonal homes, 249 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in Indian Rocks BeachKey Biscayne, FL
Registration required
1,736 seasonal homes, 238 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in Key BiscayneCedar Key, FL
Registration required
225 seasonal homes, 283 per 1,000 housing units.
Rules in Cedar KeyFAQ
Cocoa Beach short-term rental questions
Do I need one registration or one per unit in Cocoa Beach?
What happens if I rent without registering?
Sources
- Florida Statutes § 509.032(7), Duties — preemption of vacation rental regulation, The Florida Legislature, read on September 20, 2026
- Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, read on September 20, 2026
- Sales and Use Tax on Rental of Living or Sleeping Accommodations (GT-800034, R. 10/25), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
- Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates (DR-15TDT, R. 03/25), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
- Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (DR-15DSS), Florida Department of Revenue, read on September 20, 2026
- Vacation Rental Registration, City of Cocoa Beach, read on September 20, 2026
- Code of Ordinances, Chapter 26.5, Vacation Rentals, City of Cocoa Beach, read on September 20, 2026
This page is not legal advice. It summarizes the official sources listed on this page as they read on September 20, 2026. Rules can change after that date, so check with the issuing office before you apply or publish a listing.
Before you list
Free tools for new hosts
Short-term rental agreement generator
Parties, dates, rent, deposit checked against your state's cap, and the house rules clauses you enforce. A signed-ready PDF for direct and Vrbo bookings.
Airbnb house rules
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Rental arbitrage calculator
Rent, deposit, furnishing, nightly rate and occupancy. You get monthly cash flow, the occupancy you break even at, and how long the setup takes to pay back.
Check-in instructions
The message a guest reads before getting in: access, keys, WiFi, parking, contact. English or bilingual output.