Yes, many people do.

I recently discovered Dauphin Island online and was wondering if this would be somewhere that would experience significant property appreciation.

I know a lot of people here both on and accepting Section 8 and I have never heard of them refusing to pay legitimate rent claims. 

People call me from all over the world to invest in real estate.

Nevertheless, I think if more people are talking about it, we can all work together to protect each other from any nefarious operations in our industry.

In the end, I prefer the long-term rental route with a good tenant though and over time when I start traveling for extended periods again, I will likely shift them back to long-term.I personally, would not purchase a property for the sole purpose of being a vacation rental - it's just not part of my investment strategy though, I have met people who do quite well with that model. 

Do you help other people how to structure this type of deals ?

I hate when people call me about a house I have for sale and before they ask anything about the house they want to know if they can take over payments or finance it, etc. etc.

They are high value areas where people want to live and make great areas for STRs.

I, and likely most people on here, would recommend finding a mentor in your area that has sor hands on experience with REI or property management.