Yeah, unless you have a site where you can daylight one of your walls (and drainage) then underground usually causes more problems than it solves.
My strategy in your climate would be airtight and continuously insulated with minimal East and West glazing cooled by an air-sourced heat
pump and preferably a mini-split if the spaces are small and open enough to keep the number of units to 2 or under. Designing for natural ventilation is a good idea but will only work for part of the year. As you know, humidity is the concern and I would personally not enjoy life in Fl without some de-humidification.
Deep overhangs will help with cooling and reduced maintenance but can be a serious liability in hurricane country. Wrap around porches offer more opportunity for effective foundation tiedown but can darken the interior a great deal on elevations with windows.
The building codes are your friend when hurricanes threaten and pay very close attention to how walls tie to foundation and roof ties to walls.