Below, you will find everything you need to know about the Cayo Perico Heist payout, including primary targets value, secondary targets value, and the associated fees.

In the Cayo Perico heist, you’ll encounter two types of targets: primary and secondary. Primary targets contribute significantly to your heist earnings and loot, while Cayo Perico secondary targets are optional items scattered throughout the compound. Collecting secondary targets involves some risk, as they spawn randomly, but the potential reward is worth exploring different areas of the compound for maximum loot.

Payouts also change with the chosen difficulty level. Opting for hard mode increases the value of Cayo Perico’s primary targets by 10%. You can get the heist’s hard mode if you set up the heist within 48 minutes (real-time) of Pavel sending you a message to start the heist again.

Setup Cost

The setup cost of the Cayo Perico heist is a whopping $100,000 which you must pay to start the prep missions from the Kosatka.

Primary Targets

As mentioned earlier, prioritizing primary targets is crucial since they constitute the bulk of your heist loot. However, with practice, you can collect secondary targets while making your way towards the primary one.

• Secondary Targets: These are targets other than the main Madrazo File, and finding each secondary target increases your max potential payout. Secondary targets include cash, weed, gold, and paintings.
• Infiltration Points: There are eight infiltration points that determine how you enter the island during the heist. Having more infiltration points scoped out allows for more approach options.
• Escape Points: These are the locations that will be used to escape the island after getting the primary target. There are four escape points.
• Compound Entry Points: Six compound entry points allow you to enter El Rubio’s compound during the heist. You can choose whichever entry point you prefer.
• Points of Interest: There are six points of interest on Cayo Perico, two of which have a fixed location every time you start a new heist and won’t need any further scoping. However, the rest of the items have a random spawn order but fixed locations. We have covered all the possible points of interest locations below. Points of Interest allow you to add variety to your heist by giving you more options to approach it.

Video Guide

Infiltration Points

As mentioned before, the infiltration points determine how and where you enter the island from when the heist starts. There are eight infiltration points on Cayo Perico island, which are as follows:

Airstrip

The airstrip is the runway you see when you first enter the island. It is automatically added as an infiltration point once you arrive at the island for the first time. You do not need to worry about scoping it out yourself.

Halo Jump

Once again, the Halo Jump is also added on its own whenever you first arrive at the island. It is understood that the island is pretty much scoped out of the plane whenever you are above the island.

West Beach

The West Beach infiltration point is also unlocked automatically, once you get to the party after landing on the island. The rest of the infiltration points need to be scoped out.

Main Dock

North Dock

You shouldn’t have any issues finding the North Dock infiltration point as it is part of the tutorial or introduction of the Cayo Perico scope out mechanics. Pavel will instruct you to scope it out. We’ve shown the location below regardless.

North Drop Zone

South Drop Zone

Drainage Tunnel

Note that you do not need to take a picture of the drainage tunnel. Swim to the location shown below, and it will automatically be added as an infiltration point.

Escape Points

There are four escape points in Cayo Perico, two of which are added automatically, leaving you with one escape point that must be scoped manually. If you’ve gone through the infiltration points, then they would have been added already.

Airstrip

As mentioned before, The airstrip is the runway you see when you first enter the island. It will be automatically added as an escape point.

Kosatka

Kosatka is the name of your submarine, and it will be anchored north of the airstrip. This is also added automatically.

Main Dock

If you’ve scoped out the main dock during the infiltration points, then it will be added as an escape point as well.

North Dock

The same goes for the north dock. If you scope it out, then it will be added as an infiltration and escape point.

Compound Entry Points

All of the compound entry points are added by hacking into the CCTV cameras and scoping the compound area. Only one compound entry point is scoped outside of the cameras, and chances are you’ve already got that when you were scoping out the infiltration points.

To begin, you must make your way to the communications tower as the game instructs. The location will be on the mini-map, and you need to follow the on-screen instructions. Once at the tower, climb up to the signal box and hack it.

To hack the signal box, you will need to reach the target number given at the top of the screen by connecting the wires from left to right. There are numbers on the left side and the symbols are on the right side. There is no specific order as it is random for each person. You will need to figure it out by playing around a bit. Do not worry too much though, as it can be done fairly easily. Connect the numbers to the symbols on the right to achieve the target value.

After successfully hacking into the signal box, you will be locked into the CCTV camera of El Rubio’s compound. You can cycle through the cameras to find the entry points. Here are all the locations:

Main Gate

The main gate is automatically added for us when we reach the compound. But, just in case, go through all the cameras to make sure.

North Wall

North Gate

South Wall

South Gate

Drainage Tunnel

The drainage tunnel that you scope out during the infiltration points is also one of the compound entry locations.

The Secondary Targets

The secondary targets are the targets that you can find during the heist’s intel gathering phase, to maximize your potential payout. These are side targets besides the primary objective – the Madrazo Files. These secondary targets include cash, weed, gold, and paintings, as mentioned before, and they have a fixed location where they spawn – however, they always spawn in a random order.

Some secondary targets are found when you hack into the CCTV camera, but the majority of them are scoped out around the Cayo Perico island. This is quite a tedious process, so we do not recommend scoping the secondary targets if you plan on running this heist solo. There’s only a limited amount of these targets (ie cash, weed, gold or pantings) that you can carry until your loot bag reaches its maximum capacity. It’s best to scope out all the targets if you have at least 3 or 4 players doing the heist.

Secondary Targets – CCTV

Here are all the possible secondary locations found through the CCTV cameras in the compound.

Basement

There seems to be a highly valuable secondary target that shows up in this glass exhibit. This is probably when you do the heist on hard difficulty. It’s in the same basement room as the primary target, the Madrazo Files.

Basement Storage

There are two cash/gold tables and two painting slots in the basement storage.

Office (Cam 1 & 2)

There are two cameras in the Office, and you can find one painting slot in each camera. This means that there are two painting slots in the office.

West Storage (Cam 1 & 2)

There are two cameras inside the West Storage. You can see one cash/gold table and a painting slot through cam 1 and another cash/gold table through cam 2. You will have two cash/gold tables and one painting slot in the West Storage.

North Storage (Cam 1 & 2)

Like the West Storage, the North Storage will also have two cash/gold tables and one painting slot. You can see one cash/gold table and a painting slot through cam 1 and another cash/gold table through cam 2.

South Storage (Cam 1 & 2)

There are two cameras installed in the South Storage room with three secondary target slots. Cam 1 shows one cash/gold table, while cam 2 shows a cash/gold table and a painting slot. You need to pan all the way to the right to see the second cash/gold table.

Secondary Targets – The Island

The rest of the secondary targets are found scattered all around Cayo Perico island. These also have fixed locations, but they spawn in random order. These can be anything amongst cash, gold, and weed – paintings cannot spawn in these locations.

You must take the pictures of the secondary targets individually for them to be registered. If you take the pictures of two tables in a single photo, only one target will be registered, so you must take another picture.

Secondary Targets 1, 2, 3 & 4

These secondary targets are found inside the warehouse located at the airstrip.

There are two more in the warehouse, which you can access either by climbing up the ladders located at the far right side of the warehouse or by using the forklift to get to the elevated surface to your right.

Secondary Targets 5 & 6

Secondary Targets 7 & 8

Secondary Targets 9, 10 & 11

Secondary Targets 12 & 13

Secondary Targets 14 & 15

Secondary Targets 16, 17 & 18

Secondary Targets 19 & 20

Secondary Targets 21 & 22

Secondary Targets 23 & 24

Points of Interest (POI)

Furthermore, there are points of interest on the island, which you can scope out to give you additional heist approaches and different options. There are different types of points of interest. Two of the points of interest are fixed – the Control Tower and Power Station. The rest of them spawn randomly, but at fixed locations every heist you do.

Below, we show you all the possible POI locations, including the locations where we found our equipment. For the locations where we didn’t find, we have circled the exact spot in red where the items or equipment will spawn every time (if that location is one of the spawn points for you)

Control Tower

The Control Tower is the easiest and will remain the same throughout your Cayo Perico heist experience. The Control Tower is located at the airstrip. Take a picture of the tower and send it to Pavel to register this POI. The Control Tower is hard to miss as it is part of the tutorial when you first land on the island. The Control Tower disables the air defense system and allows your hired support crew to aid you during the heist.

Power Station

The Power Station is also located at the airstrip, near the Control Tower. You can scope it out, and later during the heist, it can help you take down CCTV cameras and lights briefly. It also reduces the Guard’s vision at night time.

Bolt Cutters

Here are the locations of all the bolt cutters on the island. They are mostly around a red toolbox. If you see a red toolbox, you should consider that location as one of the bolt cutters’ spawn locations.

Bolt Cutters 1

This location is along the runway of the airstrip. There is a bunch of containers and metal boxes on the side of the runway. The bolt cutters will be on one of the metal containers.

Bolt Cutters 2

This one is located at the beginning of the airstrip. There will be a couple of boxes, and the bolt cutters will be on a black briefcase resting on top one of the wooden boxes.

Bolt Cutters 3

The bolt cutters will be on the table at the indicated location. This is also near the airstrip.

Bolt Cutters 4

These bolt cutters are located near the power station. You must go to the end of the road where the solar panels are and look for some wooden boxes and a red toolbox. The bolt cutters will be on the ground beside the wooden boxes.

Bolt Cutters 5

You can find these bolt cutters in a wrecked boat stranded at the North Drop Zone. Get inside the boat, and the bolt cutter will be lying on the ground next to the wooden boxes and, of course, a red toolbox.

Bolt Cutters 6

This bolt cutter is unmissable as it is part of the “tutorial” when you first land on the island. It is found resting on a metal container near the North Dock.

Bolt Cutters 7

There is another boat by the North Sock with some tools inside. It also has a red toolbox and is a possible spawn location for one of the bolt cutters.

Bolt Cutters 8

There is a building at the end of the main North Dock road. If you go behind the building, you will find a set of ladders to climb up. You will find some more wooden boxes and a red toolbox. The bolt cutters will spawn next to the wooden box on the ground.

Bolt Cutters 9

This one is found in a shack, which is located in the middle of the map. You will find some people making and packing drugs. The bolt cutter spawns on one of the metallic shelves.

Bolt Cutters 10

This bolt cutter location is near the weed farm located to the far east, by the shack containing secondary targets. The bolt cutters will be on the floor. It will be difficult to notice these at first, as they blend quite well with the garbage on the ground.

Bolt Cutters 11

This one is found at the base of the sniper tower, located east of the same farm. There will be a stack of wooden planks at the base of the tower. The bolt cutters will be resting on these planks.

Bolt Cutters 12

These bolt cutters are also at the sniper tower base located directly east of the main radio tower, where you hack the signal box. You will find the bolt cutters leaning against the laundry container.

Bolt Cutters 13

You can find this bolt cutter at the western edge of the island near the security border of El Rubio’s compound. It will be next to a skeleton.

Bolt Cutters 14

These bolt cutters are resting at the base of one of the water towers.

Bolt Cutters 15

This one is also hidden quite well near the main docks. You will have to look closely for this one as it is camouflaged in many other items.

Bolt Cutters 16

These bolt cutters are found in the heart of the island, where the security is the tightest. You will need to be careful when making your way to this location. The bolt cutters are on top of a wooden box inside a docked boat by the docks.

Guard Clothing

Guard clothing is always in a green-colored basket with red and white uniforms inside.

Guard Clothing 1

The first location is at the airstrip where the pilot sits. The basket will be by the wall.

Guard Clothing 2

The second location is also nearby at the airstrip. The basket will be on the balcony of the building with the staircase leading up to it.

Guard Clothing 3

The third location where the basket can spawn is at the end of the dock located south of the airstrip. Go to the very end of the dock, and you will find it resting by the small set of stairs.

Guard Clothing 4

You can also find the guard clothing inside a shed located near the North Dock.

Guard Clothing 5

There is another guard clothing basket resting by the metallic container accommodation.

Guard Clothing 6

The sixth location is at the end of the main road near the North Dock. The basket will be next to some wooden boxes.

Guard Clothing 7

The seventh location is also in the same general area. You will find the basket by the red boat under a small shelter.

Guard Clothing 8

The basket will be next to the door of a yellow building on an elevated concrete surface. This is one of the first buildings you will see when you go through the security checkpoint.

Guard Clothing 9

This location is also in the middle of the island, where security is high. You will find the basket just next to some wooden boxes and a barrel.

Guard Clothing 10

You can find this one at the base of the main communications tower in the middle of the tower, where you hack the signal box to gain access to El Rubio’s CCTV cameras.

Guard Clothing 11

You can find this basket next to the air defense system next to one of the sniper towers. The green basket will be on the ground next to it.

Guard Clothing 12

You will find the basket resting by some cardboard boxes at the base of one of the sniper towers located northeast of El Rubio’s main gate entrance.

Guard Clothing 13

It is located next to a small building on the far west of the island.

Guard Clothing 14

This basket is also in the same general area under a shelter next to some barrels and wooden boxes.

Guard Clothing 15

The basket will be on the ground next to some water containers.

Guard Clothing 16

This one is found inside a container in a highly secured area. There is a sniper tower and a guard is patrolling the area too. Be cautious when approaching this area.

Grappling Equipment

The grappling equipment is also found all over the island in fixed locations. You must collect four of these to register the grappling equipment POI. It’s a black bag with a silver grappling hook coming out of it.

Grappling Equipment 1

You can find this one at the end of the runway of the airstrip.

Grappling Equipment 2

Go to the end of the road that leads to the solar panels near the airstrip and continue moving forward towards the shore. You will find the grappling equipment here on the wooden crate.

Grappling Equipment 3

This one is also near the same shoreline but near a wrecked boat. There will be a huge wooden crate. The grappling hook will be hidden behind it. You might miss it so don’t forget to look behind the wooden crate.

Grappling Equipment 4

The equipment is on a wooden crate at the base of a sniper tower.

Grappling Equipment 5

You can find it in the middle of the island on an old rusted boat.

Grappling Equipment 6

This grappling equipment is in the middlemost shore, on a wooden crate, by a docked boat.

Grappling Equipment 7

This will be on top of a water tank near the North Dock area.

Grappling Equipment 8

The equipment will be on top of a building with some wooden crates and a red toolbox.

Grappling Equipment 9

The grappling equipment will be on top of a shorter water tank in the North Dock area.

Grappling Equipment 10

This one is a bit harder to spot at first. But, it is in the small gap of the crane.

Grappling Equipment 11

This equipment is found under a shelter by the weed farm. The bag will be resting on top of the cardboard boxes in the shelter.

Grappling Equipment 12

This location is at the easternmost edge of the island.

Grappling Equipment 13

The grappling equipment is on top of the communications tower.

Grappling Equipment 14

The grappling equipment will be under the stairs of the lighthouse.

Grappling Equipment 15

This one was a bit tricky to find for us, but it won’t be for you. This is not exactly on top of the water tank but halfway through.

Grappling Equipment 16

You can find the grappling equipment in a small gap in the crane at the island’s main dock.

Supply Trucks

Luckily there are only five possible locations where you can find the supply truck, and they are as follows:

Supply Truck 1

The first location is at the airstrip.

Supply truck 2

The second location is by the North Dock.

Supply Truck 3

The third location is in the middle of the map under a shelter.

Supply Truck 4

The fourth location is near the main dock. That is where we found our supply truck.

Supply Truck 5

The fifth truck location is inside the compound.

You can only see it through the CCTV camera.

Using These Items and POIs

Below, you will find the reason you need to find and use of each of the above-mentioned pieces of equipment and items that you are required to collect on the island.

• Control Tower: The control tower disables the air defense system and allows your hired support crew to aid you during the heist.
• Power Station: It helps you take down CCTV cameras and lights briefly. It also reduces the Guard’s vision at night time.
• Bolt Cutters (x4): These help you open up locked storages without alerting the guards.
• Grappling Equipment (x4): This allows you to climb the walls of the compound if you’ve scoped the north or south wall infiltration points.
• Guard Clothing (x4): If you have the guard clothing, the guards take longer to detect you. You can also use the clothing in combination with the supply truck to enter the compound through the main gate.
• Supply Truck: As mentioned above, if used with the guard clothing, you can drive through the main gate to enter the compound.

In this article, we’ve ranked the top five best ways to make money in GTA Online and link directly to our own guides that further detail exactly how you should do them.

The ranking below goes from best to worst. However, the “worst” in this case doesn’t mean it won’t make you good money, it just means that it might be a little more complex, difficult or inefficient when compared to the higher ranked methods.

The Cayo Perico Heist

The Cayo Perico Heist is the best way to make money in GTA Online, period.

The Cayo Perico Heist has been GTA Online’s most profitable yet solo-friendly heist since it was released in December 2020. What makes this heist the best is the ease and quickness of its setup missions, as well as the finale.

Following our fixed route, you can complete the heist in under 7 minutes! Not only can you complete it very quickly though, but you can also earn the Elite Challenge completion within that same time to earn extra rewards.

You can earn up to $4 million with four players or $2.6 million as a solo player. Those numbers are in the upper spectrum of the possible payout, assuming you get the Panther Statue as your primary target.

Realistically, you can earn up to $1.5-$1.6 million as a solo player every run, which is incredible considering the short amount of time that it takes to complete the heist. 

Guide: Cayo Perico Heist Guides

The Diamond Casino Heist

It has been several years since the release of the Diamond Casino Heist, yet it still stands strong in terms of payout and ease of completion. The only downside to the Diamond Casino Heist is that the setup and prep missions that can take a while to do, depending on how skilled you are. But, you can complete them fairly quickly once you get the hang of it, especially if you own a fast vehicle like an Oppressor Mark II.

Completing the Diamond Casino Heist can be very profitable as you have the potential to earn up to $10 million minimum, and that is on Normal mode. You can earn up to $11 million on Hard mode. When you take that into consideration, the setup and the prep missions don’t seem too bad!

Guide: Diamond Casino Heist Guides

Hangar

The inclusion of Hangar businesses in this list may surprise many players, as the Smuggling business wasn’t even considered in the top ten best money-making methods for a very long time. However, the Hangar business received a complete overhaul with the release of the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC, making it one of the most profitable businesses, thanks to all the payout buffs it has received.

The best part is that it can be completed solo as part of the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC, and that you can sell your product using a single vehicle.

It is also a good idea to purchase the Hangar in general, as purchasing it allows you to store your air vehicles and assign your warehouse technician to the business through your Nightclub, in order to accrue goods passively for the Nightclub business (not for the hangar warehouse).

Guide: Hangar Business Guide

Agency Security Contracts

The Agency is a new property added with the release of the Contracts DLC. It unlocks many doors for new and veteran players to make money. However, it is especially good for newer players, who can quickly access the Agency property. You’ll need to purchase the Agency to start doing the Dr. Dre missions and VIP contracts, which is what we will be focusing on.

You can earn over $1 million for completing all the VIP contract missions. The Contract DLC also features Payphone hits, which is another great way of making money while you wait for your passive businesses to make money or cooldowns.

Payphone hits don’t take much time and can be completed within 8-10 minutes. If you complete the bonus requirement of the mission, you can earn $70k extra on top of the base $15k. So in total, you can earn $85k per Payphone hit completion.

Guide: Contract DLC & Payphone Hits Guide

Nightclub Business

At number five is the Nightclub business. The Nightclub business is one of the most complex businesses to set up, but we still think it is worth the effort: it is the best passive money-making businesses in GTA Online.

The reason it is number five on this list is that it is not beginner friendly and requires a massive initial investment to set up properly. But, you can earn millions passively while you work on other businesses in-game.

This is great if you have other, non-passive sources of income that require you to actively play them, such as the Cayo Perico heist or the Agency missions. You can complete those missions while the Nightclub accrues the materials for you passively, which is worth millions of dollars once ready for you to sell.

Guide: Nightclub Business Guide

If you’re starting out in GTA Online, check out our other money guides to save money and prioritize purchasing the Kosatka submarine. You cannot perform the Cayo Perico heist unless you purchase the Kosatka submarine. Once you’ve purchased the Kosatka, you can work your way towards earning millions and starting some of the other other businesses on this list.

That wraps up our top five best money-making methods for GTA Online in 2023.

If you wait for more than 48 minutes, the heist difficulty will switch to normal. The value of the primary target is increased by 10% in Hard Mode. If you complete the elite challenge, the reward is GTA$100,000 instead of the standard GTA$50,000. The primary targets change every time you do the heist after your first ever heist, where you are tasked to retrieve the Madrazo Files.

While the Cayo Perico heist is a go-to method for solo players to make millions, it was nerfed as a money making method after the GTA Online: Criminal Enterprise update in July 2022. Rockstar adjusted the cooldown time and primary target probabilities when you are doing a solo playthrough of the heist.

With the aforementioned nerf, solo players must wait for 3 in-game days before they can do another heist. In addition, if a solo player gets a high-value primary target in one heist, they will have a lower chance of getting a high-value primary target again for the next 72 hours (real-world time).

On September 28, 2023, Rockstar Games also implemented fresh nerfs to the Cayo Perico heist, resulting in a substantial 30% reduction in payouts. In addition, the setup cost skyrocketed from $25K to $100K. These changes have all been reflected in the ‘Primary Target’ payout section immediately below.

Primary Targets

There are five different primary targets you can get in the Cayo Perico Heist, each holding a different value. The primary targets and their values are as follows:

Something important to note here is that once the heist is over, there are two additional fees – fencing fees (10% of the primary and secondary take combined) and Pavel’s cut (2% of the primary and secondary take combined).

During our Hard Mode playthrough of the Cayo Perico heist, the primary target turned out to be the Sinsimito Tequila worth GTA$693,000. Below, we have a complete guide on how you can complete the heist on Hard Mode while completing the Elite Challenge.

Heist Prep

You do not have to complete all the prep missions. You just need to complete the prep missions necessary for this sneaky approach along with the mandatory prep missions, of course. If you’re looking for a complete list of prep missions, then feel free to check out our complete in-depth guide on all the missions here. Here’s everything you need for the completion of this heist finale.

Vehicle Approaches

You need to complete the Submarine Kosatka prep mission for the vehicle approach, a mandatory prep mission.

Equipment

When it comes to equipment, two of the equipment prep missions are always going to be mandatory – Fingerprint Cloner and either Plasma Cutter or the Safe Codes (depending on what your primary target is). These must be completed.

Then you’re left with a choice to either do Demolition Charges or Cutting Torch. It is best to go with the Cutting Torch as not only does it have easier prep missions, but it is also much faster and silent when it comes to cutting the locks.

Weapons Loadout

When it comes to the weapons loadout, I personally prefer the ‘Crack Shot’ loadout. From my experience, it’s the best for sneaking in and out. It has an AP Pistol and a Sniper Rifle. This is the best loadout if you want to sneak in and out.

The AP Pistol is a mini-SMG in the form of a pistol. It is a reliable weapon not just in this heist but in GTA Online in general. Plus, you also get a Sniper Rifle that will allow you to take down enemies at range, especially the ones patrolling in Sniper towers (if needed).

The most important thing you need to buy in the weapons loadout is the suppressors for your weapons. This will suppress your shots when eliminating guards. You must get these. The suppressors cost GTA$5,000.

That is everything you need to do for this heist finale. You can skip the disruption missions and other optional missions.

Secondary Targets

To make sure you fill your loot bag fully, you need to scope out some secondary targets at the main docks. The Main docks will be your primary escape point used during this heist finale. You need to scope out just two locations at the main docks: the big shed and the small locked room to the main dock’s right.

• The Shed





• Locked Room

Finale Prep

If you’ve done the above prep missions, you should be able to choose the following during your heist finale screen.

• Approach Vehicle: Kosatka
• Infiltration Point: Drainage Tunnel
• Compound Entry Point: Drainage Tunnel
• Escape Point: Main Dock
• Time Of Day: Night
• Weapons Loadout: Crack Shot and Suppressors

The approach vehicle is acquired by doing the Submarine Kosatka prep mission. The infiltration point, compound entry point, and escape point are unlocked by scoping out certain locations on the island. If you do not see the drainage tunnel and the main dock as your infiltration point/compound entry point and escape points, respectively, then chances are you haven’t scoped out the locations.

The drainage tunnel is underwater behind El Rubio’s compound. You need to swim to the location shown in the map below to scope out the drainage tunnel successfully.

For the main dock escape point, you need to take a picture of the main dock and send it to Pavel.

You can find all the scope out locations on our dedicated guide here.

The Heist Finale

Now we get to our actual Cayo Perico Heist guide. When you start the heist, you will be underwater with a diving suit. You need to swim to the drainage tunnel and cut open the grate using your cutting torch to enter the main compound. Be careful of the underwater mines.

When you go through to the end of the drainage tunnel, a short cutscene of you entering the compound will play. Once the cutscene ends, go right and keep going straight and up the stairs until you reach the two guards standing at the end of the walkway.

Take out both the guards silently and remember to aim for the head. The guards always take a second to react, so you will have plenty of time to take both of them out without alerting either one of them. Continue moving forward, and once you pass through the archway, go through the grass patio and jump over the small wall.

You will see a guard right in front of you. Make sure you take him out and remember NOT to kill him when he is in the cone of vision of one of the cameras in this area. This guard will be patrolling this area back and forth so he can be anywhere in this area. Keep an eye out for him.

One of the guards might drop the gate keys. The drop is completely random, but there is a high chance for one of the eliminated guards to drop the key. The guard that we just killed (in the images above) drops the gate keys. If they do, take the keys as they will help later on to make your escape more convenient. Even if you don’t get the keys, don’t worry though, you can still escape!

Do not continue moving forward towards the archway straight ahead of you. Instead, take a left and go up the stairs. Before going up, aim at the guard standing right above you and take him out.

After killing the guard, make your way up the stairs and then another set of stairs leading up to El Rubio’s main office. On your way up, there will be another guard coming down the stairs. You can quickly take him out by meleeing him.

When you enter the office, get the elevator keycard off the table and approach the wall with the pictures to the left of the fireplace. You will get a prompt to open up the secret safe here. It contains some extra cash (added to the total take), a medkit, and a pistol. If you get paintings as secondary targets inside the office during your scope out, then make sure you loot them as well.

Make your way to the elevator in the room and start the fingerprint cloning process. The fingerprint clone hacking process isn’t just a matching process, but I realized it has a fixed pattern every time. The trick I learned is to change all the components to match the clone target’s top component first.

Then, starting from the top, change the component position to the right with an increasing increment of one for each component as you go down. You don’t even have to look at the rest of the fingerprint patterns on the clone target.

The above image shows the number of times you need to turn right on each pattern once you are on the topmost pattern. 0 means you won’t turn right at all, and 1 means you turn to the right once, and so on. Do the same with all of the patterns, and you will be able to do them quickly. When you are left with one component, scroll through quickly, and it will start processing as soon as you land on the correct one.

When you reach the underground vault, cut open the lock using your cutting torch and use the plasma cutter to cut the glass exhibit holding the primary target. In our case, it was the Sinsimito Tequila.

After looting the primary target, make your way back to the elevator and the office. Go back downstairs and turn right.

With Gate Keys

At the end of the walkway, if you have the gate keys, turn left towards the archway and take out the guard standing by the locked gate. This guard is always patrolling this general area and might not always be in this specific spot, but, he eventually comes here. You will also find another guard just outside the locked gate. Take him out as well.

After eliminating both these guards, unlock the door and go through it. You will find one more guard in front of the main compound gate. Take him out and exit via the main gate. When you reach the main gate, a short cutscene of you opening the gate and escaping the compound will play.

Without Gate Keys

In case you do not find any gate keys, do not worry. Instead of turning left towards the locked gate, jump over and go up the stairs to reach the same gate top escape.

Once you’re outside the compound, run toward the main exit and you will find a single guard standing by a bike. Take him out, get the bike, and continue to ride towards the main exit. You will find another single guard just before two more guards ahead of him. Take this guard out as well.

Take out the other two guards, that were ahead of the previous one, and continue to ride towards the exit. You will find a security camera at the main exit point. Shoot it using your pistol and ride away.

Continue to ride on the main dirt road until you see a metal barrier to your right. As soon as you see it, get off the dirt road and turn right off-road, into the grassy mountain. Continue to ride off-road until you reach the main docks.

When you reach the main docks, go to the big shed to the left. Before proceeding, take out the guard standing by it. There is also a security camera above it, but you won’t have a problem if you stick close to the camera.

Get inside the shed, unlock the doors using your cutting torch and loot both the tables (whether it’s for cash or drugs).

When you get out of the shed after looting the secondary targets, make your way to the right side of the docks. As you’re making your way there, you might run into another guard who will instantly detect you. So be ready to take him out as quickly as you can or else he will shoot at you and alert the rest of the guards around you. Take him out and continue to make your way to the second locked gate with the secondary targets. Remember, we need to fill our loot bag for the completion of the elite challenge. There will be another guard standing on the left side of the gate. Take him out as well.

Open the locked gate and aim for the drugs first, as they hold more value, and will fill your loot bag quicker. Your bag will probably be filled before you can clean up these tables.

Now make your way to the boat at the main docks for your escape. There will be two guards standing on the right side of the boat. Line up your aim and take them both out by aiming at their heads. After taking them out, get into your boat.

There is another guard to your left. Take him out as well, and then drive your boat towards the open ocean.

As you’re exiting the main docks, you will find another guard standing by the crane. Take him out as well, and then make your way to the open ocean. Avoid the patrolling boats and keep driving away from the docks until the heist completion cutscene plays.

Heist Summary

The following is the summary of the Cayo Perico Heist payout and additional fees such as fencing & Pavel’s cut (note that the summary below is prior to the September 28, 2024 Cayo Perico payout nerfs):

Cayo Perico Solo Meta Route

I’ve tried speedrunning the Cayo Perico Island heist multiple times. If you’re interested, here’s my “meta” route that I’ve found to be the most efficient, letting you complete the heist with the maximum possible loot as a solo player. Feel free to check out our video above, showing the complete Elite Challenge completion route. With this route, you can complete the Cayo Perico heist within 7-8 minutes.

The finale prep remains the same for this route, but you must select Aggressor loadout with Suppressors on. This route utilizes the door glitch to maximize earnings. But if it isn’t your cup of tea, you may skip the glitch part and continue with the route to get the primary target and escape.

When you spawn inside the compound, go up the stairs to your left and eliminate the guard ahead of you. The goal is to eliminate only a few guards on this route to get the keys. Do not mistake keycards for keys. The key distinction is that keycards have a key icon inside a rectangular shape, while the keys do not.

If the guard drops the key, all good. Grab it and go left and straight along the railing and under the archway.

When you reach the end of the railings, turn left and go past the circular plant decor in the middle and right, up a small set of stairs.

You will find a guard and a camera here. First, shoot the camera and then the guard.

Fortunately, this guard dropped the key for us.

After that, quickly return to the stairs leading to El Rubio’s office. 

Before going up, eliminate the guard to your right while he is near the gate.

Then eliminate the guard at the bottom of the stairs.

Continue moving up, but eliminate the last guard walking down the stairs. You can usually melee him, but it sometimes triggers the alarm. It is best to wait for him by the stairs and eliminate him with a headshot.

Go inside El Rubio’s office and interact with the painting on the wall to the left of the fireplace to open up a secret safe. The amount in the safe is random and can vary between $20K and $100K. What you get is always random.

Now, you can skip this part if you’d like, but to maximize your profit, perform this door glitch to grab the money locked inside a small building below El Rubio’s office.

Go down two sets of stairs and switch to First Person mode.

While in first-person mode, jump over the railing and get back up.

Now, you are in a glitched state. You can control your camera with A and D on the PC and the left analog stick on consoles, while in the glitched state. Do not sprint, or you will revert to your normal state.

Jump over the bushes and go into the corner of the railing connecting with the building.

Now, jump on the railing while facing the corner (diagonally) and hold forward and right to glitch into the building. On PC, the buttons are W and D pressed simultaneously. On consoles, you jump up and look right with your left analog stick to enter.

If you look too much to the right, you can turn left (using A or moving your left analog stick to left) to compensate for it. Please refer to our route video to get a visual reference.

Once inside, the assets will be invisible, but you will get a prompt to start looting at the top left corner of your screen, making everything visible again.

A Juggernaut will pass by you eventually, so ensure you are not in front of the window when he is nearby. But, if you’ve followed this guide, you will have plenty of time to loot inside and fill up your bag.

Do not leave before you’ve looted everything you possibly can, as you won’t be able to re-enter the building without repeating the glitch. The door remains locked once you’re outside. This was not the case before, but it has since been patched.

When you see the Juggernaut pass by the building door, go outside and eliminate him with two shotgun shots. Now we’re ready to move on to the primary target.

Exiting the secondary targets building, you will see a railing directly ahead.

Jump over it and open the locked gate at the bottom.

Go inside, and you will find a locked door that can be hacked using a fingerprint cloner.

Open it and get your primary target as you usually would.

After that, exit the area via the same route you came in from. However, as soon as you’re out, you can jump up to your left and run for the exit.

Stand at the top of the stairs, face the railing, and jump to grab and mantle over it.

The exit will be directly ahead, but with some guards. One of the guards will be patrolling the gate. Wait for him to go left, then run for the yellow highlighted area. Do not forget to press the interact button to exit, or it won’t work. That is the E button on PC and the right d-pad on controllers.

When you’re out, eliminate the guard standing with a bike and grab his bike.

You do not have to go through your chosen escape point. Drive southwest towards the sea and jump.

When you’re in the water, keep swimming until you get an ending cutscene in order to complete the heist.

Frequently Asked Questions

The cutting powder can be found in one of the three locations, and it spawns randomly. There are two water towers on the island, and you can contaminate either one of these. You do not have to put the powder in both of them.

Cutting Powder Locations

There are three possible locations where you can find the Cayo Perico cutting powder.

Cutting Powder Location 1

The first location is in the middle of the island in a shed where some workers are manufacturing drugs. The box of cutting powder is orange in color and easy to spot as it glows brightly. The box will be next to a trash can.

Cutting Powder Location 2

The second location is to the very west near the Main Dock area. You will find the box under the shade of the longest building in the area. You can also find some guard clothing here.

Cutting Powder Location 3

The third and final possible location is near the weed field in the eastern part of the island. You will find a small shed area with some materials in there. The box will be on the ground. You can also find a grappling hook here on the cardboard boxes.

Water Tower Locations

As mentioned before, there are two locations where you will find the water towers. You can contaminate any one of these, and the guards will be weakened during the Cayo Perico heist finale.

Water Tower 1 – North Dock

The tower is at the back of the buildings near the North Dock of the island.

Water Tower 2 – Main Dock

This tower is in the Main Dock area.

Once you’ve contaminated the water, guards will take longer to detect you, and they will always have a bad aim. Their shooting accuracy will also drop. We all know how the GTA Online NPCs have the “perfect” aim. In other words, aimbot. Doing this mission will help you bring that “perfect” NPC aim down a notch. This is particularly useful for those who are going to attempt this heist aggressively.

• Vehicle Approaches: You have several vehicles that allow you to approach the island in many different ways, depending on what style of approach you have planned. Whether it’s jumping in from the sky or going in by swimming. You have all the options provided you’ve scoped out the relevant point during the scope out. There are six different approach vehicles you can choose from, where only one of the approach vehicle missions is mandatory and the rest are optional.
• Equipment: There are four equipment acquiring missions, out of which three are mandatory.
• Weapon Loadout: You have five different weapon loadouts to choose from. You can only do one loadout prep mission to acquire that respective loadout. You can choose whatever loadout you prefer based on your approach style. You also have the option to buy the suppressors for your guns from the weapon loadout menu for GTA$5,000. This is a mandatory prep mission, of course.
• Disruptions: Disruptions have three optional missions that can be best compared to the Duggan Shipment from the Diamond Casino Heist broken down into three parts. These are completely optional but give you an added advantage such as weaker guards, weapon damage, and no air support when the guards are alerted.

That said, here’s our walkthrough to completing every setup mission for the Cayo Perico heist, which you need to choose from, which you can skip, and which are optional.

Vehicle Approaches

As mentioned above, there are six vehicle approaches you can choose from, and they are as follows:

Submarine Kosatka (Mandatory)

The Submarine Kosatka prep mission is a mandatory prep mission used as your main mode of transport to the island if you haven’t scoped out other optional locations that give access to other approach vehicle missions.

Once you start the mission, you will be tasked to go to a Merryweather Test Site to acquire a sonar jammer in the middle of the ocean. The sonar jammer will be located inside a submarine at the test site. It would be best if you used either a Buzzard or an Oppressor Mark II to get to the location as you will need to clear out the patrolling attack helicopters and boats.

Also, stock up on the maximum number of armor and snacks as this mission is combat-heavy. You will need to fight your way to the sonar jammer once inside the submarine. When you reach the test site, you will find one attack helicopter and three boats. Take them out and dive into the water.

You will see a huge yellow region on your mini-map. Go to the middle of the yellow circle and you will notice a yellow marker on top of the submerged submarine that will allow you to enter it. When you are inside the submarine, you will find a lot of guards as you proceed forward. The layout of the submarine is similar to the one you own, and the one seen during the Bogdan Problem of the Doomsday Heist.

Keep moving forward as you eliminate the guards, and keep an eye out for a sonar jammer. The jammer will be in a random location every time you do this mission. The good thing about the jammer is that it will instantly appear on your mini-map when you are near the jammer or in its general vicinity. This saves us a great deal of hassle to look for the device specifically.

There are three possible locations. One location is the main control room, the same room where you plan your Cayo Perico heists. It will be on the central table.

The second location is this separate missile room, where the jammer will be at the end of the room on a green crate.

The third location where we found the jammer was near the stairs leading up to what seems to be the engine room.

After taking the device, keep going moving forward and do not go back. You will also get a yellow indicator on your mini-map guiding you out of the submarine. On your way back, you can also get a rebreather that will allow you to stay underwater for an extended period of time. This is important as there will be attack helicopters as soon as you are out of the submarine.

You cannot take them out until or unless you reach land. As soon as you reach land, take them out. The attack helicopters will appear three times before finally stopping. Aim for the pilot of the helicopters to get rid of them quickly. After taking care of the attack helicopters, deliver the sonar jammer to your submarine to complete this mission.

Plane: Alkonost (Optional)

This optional prep mission has two parts. Part one requires you to steal the Alkonost plane from one of the hangars at Fort Zancudo, and in the second part, we arrange a pilot.

Part 1: Alkonost

Before proceeding with this mission, make sure you have the maximum number of snacks and body armor as you will need it when you are stealing the plane. The hangar is heavily guarded. To make things easier, go to Ammu-Nation and buy Night Vision goggles. Then start this mission.

Make your way to the hangar, and before entering, go behind the entrance door. You will notice a circuit breaker. Use that to cut off the lights inside the hangar briefly. Once the lights are out, quickly make your way inside the hangar and activate your night vision goggles.

Now, you can easily run around and look for your objective without worrying about the guards seeing you. You need to hurry and find a laptop before the backup generator comes online. The laptop spawns in a random location every time, but it will always be inside one of the cubicles or buildings inside the hangar.

When you are near the laptop, it will be shown on your mini-map, so do not worry a lot and run around in the cubicles. As soon as you find the laptop, use it to unlock the hangar door.

Note that as soon as you unlock the hangar door, all the guards will be alerted of your presence. You will need to run to the plane and enter it quickly. Thankfully, there won’t be any sitting animation. You need to make sure your health and body armor are full while making your way to the plane, as you will get shot at from every direction.

Once inside the plane, exit the hangar and fly high to lose the cops. Unfortunately, you cannot call Lester to lose the cops. Once you’ve lost the cops, deliver the Alkonost to Miguel’s Hangar at the airport to complete this mission.

Part 2: Pilot

The second part of the mission requires you to arrange a qualified pilot for this plane. Luckily, there’s a pilot who needs help getting rid of some people he owes money to. If you help him out, he will join you.

You need to head over to a specific house full of loan sharks. You must kill them all and clear the house of all the loan sharks, including the unarmed. After killing everyone, leave the house and lose the cops to complete the prep mission.

The pilot mission is also part of the Helicopter Stealth Annihilator prep mission that requires you to arrange the pilot. You can do the pilot mission as part of either one of these missions, and it will be counted as completed towards both of these missions. You do not have to repeat the pilot mission.

Plane: Velum (Optional)

This optional mission is straightforward. You need to head over to a location where a drug deal is taking place. There will be a Velum plane there that you need to steal and deliver to the drop-off point.

Please do not use any explosives to take out the enemies there as it may lead to the destruction of the plane and ultimately the failure of the prep mission. Take out the enemies first and then fly the plane to the drop-off point.

You can pick off the enemies using your regular AR from a distance. Just make sure you have enough snacks and body armor to survive the fight.

Helicopter Stealth Annihilator (Optional)

Part 1: Stealth Annihilator

For this two-part optional mission, you can get different locations but with the same objective of stealing the stealth helicopter. Do not use any air vehicle to approach the objective site as there are air defenses that will take you out in a single hit.

Go to the location on foot, or in our case, using one of the speedboats, to reach the Yacht. The stealth helicopter was on a Yacht at Elysian Island (one of the locations). You will need a good number of snacks and body armor as this mission will put you in a heavy combat scenario.

You will need to fight your way to the control room and hack the laptop to disable the area’s air defense system. Once the system is disabled, make your way to the stealth helicopter. Two attack helicopters will spawn in. Take them out first. They will spawn four times before disappearing for good.

After getting rid of them, fly the stealth helicopter to the drop-off point to complete this prep mission.

Part 2: Pilot

As mentioned above, the pilot mission can be done on either the stealth Annihilator or the Alkonost. The pilot mission will be completed in both the missions, and you won’t have to do the mission twice. You have to go to a specific location and take out the loan sharks to complete this prep mission.

Boat: Patrol Boat (Optional)

In this optional mission, you are tasked to go to the docks and steal a patrol boat. This mission is not as easy as the other missions, but our guide will give you a good strategy to finish the mission easily.

Before starting this mission, it is best to buy the maximum number of heavy body armor and snacks. Your survival essentially relies on the armor and snacks you take into this mission with you. You can get two different locations for this mission but with the same objective – to steal the patrol boat.

The first location is the Merryweather HQ, where you will take down the Merryweather soldiers and open the gate to drive the boat out of the big warehouse docks. The second location is called Galilee, where you eliminate some smugglers at the docks to get a local patrol boat’s attention.

We got Galilee as our location to eliminate some smugglers and attract a patrol boat at our location. Note that the boat will come at the docks and instantly make a u-turn trying to make a run for it, which will make it difficult to steal the boat.

The best thing to do is get your Sniper Rifle out and keep an eye out for the patrol boat. You will see a boat approaching your location. You need to kill the boat driver, swim to the boat, take out the gunner on-board, and take control of the boat.

Once you have control of the boat, you will need to make your way to the open ocean. Now the hard part starts. You will have two routes to take – Raton Canyon River or Zancudo River. Take the Raton Canyon river as it is closer to the drop-off point.

As you make your way to the river, two attack helicopters will spawn, and they will constantly shoot you, depleting your armor and health. The best way to avoid death here is to keep your armor menu open and keep using the armor as soon as your armor depletes completely.

Once you run out of armor, switch over to your snacks menu, and keep eating to regain health as you drive the boat to the ocean. Halfway through the river, you will be attacked by more Merryweather soldiers. It can get intense, but it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you keep an eye out for your armor and health bar.

When you reach the ocean, the enemies and the attack helicopters will disappear. You can then drive your boat to the drop-off point to complete this prep mission.

Boat: Longfin (Optional)

You need to steal a longfin boat from the police station using a tow truck in this optional mission. This mission can also have different locations, but always the same objective.

You will be asked to make your way to the police station (we got Vespucci Beach Police Station). As you are making your way to the police station, Pavel will send you tow trucks’ locations.

You must steal one of the tow trucks and go to the police station. Here’s a quick tip for when you reach the police station – do not drive into the station head-on. You must reverse your truck into the station and to the boat trailer.

As soon as you enter the station, you are going to get shot at from every direction. You probably won’t have enough space and opportunity to change direction amidst the cops shooting at you. Just reverse into the trailer, and it will attach automatically.

After the trailer attaches, lose the cops and then deliver the longfin boat at the docks to complete the mission.

Equipment

There are four equipment prep missions that you can do, three of which are mandatory, as mentioned above. These prep missions are as follows:

Demolition Charges (Mandatory)

In this mission, you need to head over to the Grapeseed Train Depot and search for the demolition charges. However, you run into some O’Neil Brothers. Take them out at the depot and approach the location if you are in an air vehicle, such as an Oppressor Mark II, to trigger this mission’s next part.

Next up, Pavel will ask you to head over to the O’Neil Brothers’ ranch to get the demolition charges. Go there, eliminate the brothers there, and make your way to their house basement.

When you reach the basement door, it will be locked. You need to get the keycard to enter the basement where the demolition charges are.

You will notice some more O’Neil Brothers approaching the ranch in their trucks. Take them out as one of them will have the keycard to unlock the basement door.

Unlock the door and get inside the basement to find two more O’Neil Brothers.

Take them out and get the charges. Return the demolition charges to the submarine to complete this mandatory prep mission.

Safe Code (Mandatory)

In this mandatory prep mission, you are tasked to obtain El Rubio’s safe code from his head of security. The head of security is staying at the Diamond Casino Resort. It’s best to stock up on some snacks and heavy armor as you will need it later in the mission.

Make your way to the Casino and go to the penthouse. If you are a VIP member, make your way to the elevator, and you will be taken to the penthouse. If not, then use the roof or sneak your way through the staff stairs.

Pavel would have sent you the picture of what the head of security looks like. Check your phone’s messages to see his picture.

Look around the penthouse for a room with two bodyguards outside and take them out silently. Use a suppressed weapon to take a headshot of both of them in quick succession.

This is important as it won’t alert anyone inside the room, making it easier for you to search for the target. No one will suspect you of anything, and you can run around the penthouse without any detection.

When you are near the target, he will appear on your mini-map. Take him out and search his body for the safe codes. The target always spawns in a random location in the penthouse.

Exit the penthouse and escape the cops to complete this mandatory prep mission. These safe codes are used to open the main safe during the heist to acquire the Madrazo Files.

Fingerprint Cloner (Mandatory)

In this mandatory mission, you are tasked to retrieve a fingerprint cloner, used to access the elevator door in El Rubio’s office, that will take you to the basement.

First, you need to make your way to the warehouse to find the archives’ location where the fingerprint cloner can be found. The warehouse will have a circuit breaker to the left of its main entrance. Use the switch to disable the cameras. This will help you enter without alerting the guards inside. If you do not take the cameras out, the guards will pre-aim and start shooting at you as soon as you enter the warehouse.

Eliminate the guards and hack the laptop to find the location of the archives. If you’ve played the Diamond Casino heist, then you will be familiar with this hacking style where you must align all the red letters to make up a word.

Once you get the archives’ location, you need to make your way there and destroy the cameras by shooting them to avoid any more guards spawning.

Enter the building and look for the cloner device on one of the tables inside the building. The cloner will be indicated on your mini-map whenever you are near the device.

Return the device to the submarine to complete this prep mission successfully.

Cutting Torch (Optional)

This is an optional mission where you must retrieve a cutting torch from a construction site. You can get different construction site locations, but with the same mission of finding and retrieving the cutting torch. The cutting torch is used to cut open the metal grate underwater used to enter the compound.

The construction site will be heavily guarded. Take out the guards before searching the location for the cutting torch.

There will be several toolboxes at the location with a green arrow hovering over them. Approach them to identify whether they have the torch in them or not.

The cutting torch is blue in color, and you will get a prompt to pick it up. The locations of all the toolboxes are random every time you get this mission.

Deliver the cutting torch to your submarine to complete this optional prep mission.

Weapons Loadout (Mandatory)

There are five main weapon loadouts that you can choose from. You can choose any weapon loadout. The missions will always be similar to each other with different locations.

If you are planning for an aggressive approach, then the Aggressor and the Conspirator are good options. But, if you want to sneak your way in then the Crack Shot is recommended. Do not forget to buy the suppressors for your weapons should you choose to go with the sneak approach.

You will be asked to go to one of the skyscraper buildings to retrieve the unmarked weapons. You can either enter the building head-on or use the roof access to enter the office level directly. We recommend using the roof access for easier escape later on.

Once inside, clear the office of all the guards. You need to look for a secret weapons locker inside the office.

The weapons locker is hidden behind a secret wall compartment that you won’t be able to open up on the first try.

You must hack the laptop on the table to open the locker.

Once again, the hacking system isn’t anything new. It is similar to the one seen during the Diamond Casino Heist. You need to find the matching number sequence and select it to hack successfully.

Disruptions (Optional)

As mentioned above, Disruption missions are like the Duggan Shipments from the Casino Heist separated into a three-part mission. These are not necessary, but completing them will provide an added advantage during the heist. The following are the three disruption missions.

Weapons

In this optional prep mission, you must eliminate El Rubio’s arms dealers. There are always three dealers spread all around the map. You only get 10:00 minutes to take them all out.

If you manage to take them all out within 10:00 minutes, the damage done by El Rubio’s guard’s weapons during the heist is reduced significantly. You only get one chance at this mission every heist. Do not worry, as each dealer eliminated decreases the weapon damage.

This means even if you took two of the three dealers, you should see some considerable difference in the damage dealt during the heist.

It is highly recommended that you either use an Oppressor Mark II or a Buzzard helicopter to reach the targets faster. The homing missiles on these vehicles are useless as they won’t lock on to the targets. They will be used solely to go from point A to point B.

This is the reason why you can even use the Sparrow helicopter (if you’ve bought one) to go to the arms dealers. Another quick tip for all disruption missions is to press the handbrake button once in the air if you use the Oppressor Mark II. Your Oppressor will reach the maximum speed of 130 km/h.

The Oppressor will descend gradually, but you can gain altitude and repeat the same. You will reach the targets much faster by following this strategy. Eliminate all the dealers to weaken the weapon damage of the guards during the heist finale. You do not have to kill the surrounding enemies. Focus fire on the dealers and eliminate them only, and then move on to the next one.

Note that you will also come across heavily armored dealers. An efficient way to eliminate them is using RPG or explosive weapons.

Armor

In this optional prep mission, you will be tasked to destroy the armor shipments scheduled to reach Cayo Perico island for El Rubio’s security guards. If you manage to destroy them all within 10:00 minutes, the guards will not have any armor during the heist finale.

First, you will be asked to go to a warehouse to find several crates outside the warehouse. Destroy them all using explosive weapons such as a grenade launcher or RPG.

Then you will need to enter the warehouse. You will find more enemies inside the warehouse with more crates.

After clearing the warehouse, Pavel will inform you that another shipment is leaving on a boat. Make your way to the boat and destroy the last shipment.

Once you’ve destroyed the last shipment, this optional disruption mission will be completed.

Air Support

Out of all three disruption missions, this is the most important one. When the guards are alerted during the heist finale, El Rubio sends his security helicopters to patrol and find you. If you manage to complete this mission within 10:00 minutes, the guards won’t have any helicopters to patrol the island.

In this mission, you must destroy El Rubio’s Buzzards intended for security on the island. You will only get 10:00 minutes to take them all out. If you destroy all the Buzzards, the guards won’t have access to the Buzzards when alerted, as mentioned before.

You only get one chance at this mission every heist. A Buzzard or an Oppressor Mark II would be super useful for the completion of this mission. We highly recommend using the Oppressor if you have one. Use the same handbrake technique stated above to reach all the targets quicker.

There are a total of 10 Buzzards that must be destroyed within 10:00 minutes. You get a total of 20 missiles in your Oppressor Mark II. Make sure you use them efficiently.

The homing missiles do not lock onto the targets and so a good trick here is to lock onto the guards standing near the Buzzards at the site. If you fire the missiles at those guards, the explosion’s impact also takes out the surrounding Buzzards.

Destroy all 10 Buzzards to ensure the guards won’t have access to any choppers during the heist finale.

Frequently Asked Questions

One chest always spawns on land, and the other always spawns underwater. Each Cayo Perico treasure chest rewards you with GTA$15,000 and 1,000 RP. This means you can get a total of GTA$30,000 and 2,000 RP daily.

There are 19 possible treasure chest locations around the island – 10 on land and 9 underwater. Once collected, the treasure chests spawn back in a random different location after 24 hours have passed (real-time).

In this guide, we show you all the 19 possible spawn locations. Feel free to check out our video guide as well.

Land Locations

There are 10 possible land locations.

Location 1

The chest location is in the North Dock area. You will find it at the end of the road that goes around the North Dock.

Location 2

This chest can be found resting by some water containers at the end of the runway.

Location 3

This chest location is directly north of the runway in the wide-open area.

Location 4

This chest location is south of the solar panel farm by the beach. You will find some wooden boats by the shore. The box is in the middle of two boats.

Location 5

This location is at the Northern Drop Zone near the small cabin.

Location 6

You can find this one in the middle of the beach, located east of the central small dock found in the island’s middle.

Location 7

You can find this chest near the air defense system located at the island’s very eastern section.

Location 8

This chest is found at the south drop zone.

Location 9

This chest location is by El Rubio’s western compound barrier or fence wall.

Location 10

You can find it by the crane at the Main Dock.

Underwater Locations

There are 9 possible underwater locations.

Location 1

You can find this chest underwater by the north drop zone. The chest will be next to a big boulder.

Location 2

This one is found underwater at the end of the runway. But not the western end. You need to go underwater but in the northern direction. The chest will be next to a rock, as highlighted in the image below.

Location 3

This chest is found in the underwater section between the control tower and the power station. The chest will be in a small open area surrounded by underwater grass or weed.

Location 4

This location is directly south of the power plant and solar panel farm. The chest will be next to a huge boulder. It might be a bit difficult to find it as there’s a lot of overgrown weed here.

Location 5

This underwater location is just behind the large hangar, which is located by the runway. You will find the chest in the marked location, as shown in the image below. It is quite difficult to pinpoint these chests’ exact location when underwater, the best way to find this one is to look for a huge orange-colored spore/mushroom. The chest will be next to it.

Location 6

This location is just by the main security checkpoint leading you into the main operational island area. The underwater location is slightly northeast of the checkpoint. You will find the chest quite easily as it is an open underwater area with a meager number of underwater plants. The chest is also out in the open and not in the plants. It is easier to spot.

Location 7

This is in the far southeastern section of the island where the lighthouse is located. For this particular location, swim by the purple spores shown in the image below. You will find the chest in a huge patch of overgrown weed and other plants. Swim around the location, and you will eventually get a prompt to collect the treasure.

Location 8

This chest location is probably the easiest to find. You will find this chest underwater under the wooden dock pathway at the Main Dock.

Location 9

The last underwater location is far west of the island, just outside El Rubio’s compound boundary. You will find three large spores. Two of them will be dark, and one will be in a light orange color. Approach the orange one, and you should get a prompt to collect the chest. The chest is somewhere in the overgrown weed next to the orange spore.

This guide will walk you through the steps to obtain these weapons. To get the Perico Pistol, you first need to get a special key during a random event and then use that key during the Cayo Perico Heist finale. You’ll also get the Combat Shotgun during the heist finale, but it will simply spawn for you (no key requirement).

Once you’ve obtained the weapons in the heist finale, you will get to keep the Perico Pistol for free, but you’ll have to purchase the Combat Shotgun from the Ammu-Nation.

Perico Pistol

For the Perico Pistol, you need to acquire a ‘Small Key’ obtainable only through a random event that triggers only at certain locations. In this guide, we will show all the possible event locations. In this random event, you will come across a passed out guard. You can interact with him to search him for the ‘Small Key.’

The key is used in El Rubio’s office during the Cayo Perico heist finale to obtain the pistol. Once you acquire the weapon once, it will be available to purchase at the nearest Ammu-Nation.

Random Event Locations

You will see a blue dot appear at the locations shown below indicating a random event, just like any other random event in GTA Online.

Random Event Location 1

Random Event Location 2

Random Event Location 3

Random Event Location 4

Random Event Location 5

Random Event Location 6

Random Event Location 7

Random Event Location 8

Acquiring the Perico Pistol

Once you have the small key from the passed out guard, you will need to use it on the locked drawer in El Rubio’s office during the Cayo Perico heist finale.

Open it up using the small key, and you will obtain the gold Perico Pistol.

You can later purchase the ammo for the Perico Pistol from any one of the nearest Ammu-Nation. The pistol remains with you once you acquire it from the office.

Combat Shotgun

The Combat Shotgun is a powerful shotgun you can find in a random spot inside El Rubio’s compound during the Cayo Perico heist finale. There is a fixed number of locations, but the shotgun can only spawn at one location randomly.

Combat Shotgun Locations

There are no major requirements for this shotgun. You need to go to specific locations, which we have covered below. And you should find the combat shotgun at one of the mentioned locations.

Remember that the shotgun is always leaning against an object such as a table, chair, fountain, flowerpot, tree, railing, wooden pillar, etc.

Combat Shotgun Location 1

The shotgun will be leaning against the railing.

Combat Shotgun Location 2

The shotgun will be leaning against the fountain.

Combat Shotgun Location 3

The shotgun will be leaning against the railing overlooking the sea.

Combat Shotgun Location 4

It will be leaning against the fountain.

Combat Shotgun Location 5

The shotgun will be leaning against the big central flower pot.

Combat Shotgun Location 6

The shotgun will be leaning against the wooden table with some flower pots on it.

Combat Shotgun Location 7

The same goes for this location. The shotgun will be leaning against one of the tables in this room.

Combat Shotgun Location 8

You can find the shotgun leaning against the central tree in the maze located at the compound’s top right corner.

Combat Shotgun Location 9

The shotgun will be resting by the pool shade’s wooden pillar at the main swimming pool area by the resting chairs.

Acquiring the Combat Shotgun

Once you’ve found the shotgun, pick it up, and it will be available for purchase at the Ammu-Nation.

The Combat Shotgun will not be in your inventory for free like the Perico Pistol. You will have to go to the Ammu-Nation and purchase it for GTA$295,000.

General Tips

Here are a few tips that will help you get these weapons fast.

• Go to any one of the random event spawn locations for the Perico Pistol, and set that location as your spawn point. This can be done by going to your interaction menu and setting the spawn location as ‘Last Location.’ Now, keep changing sessions until you get a blue dot pop up on your mini-map representing the passed out guard.
• If you have no luck finding the Combat Shotgun in any one of the locations, then try doing the heist at Nighttime (if, of course, you tried to look for it during daytime heist). For some reason, the spawn rate for the Combat Shotgun is higher during Night time. Even we found the Combat Shotgun during Night time after several tries during Day time heist.

If you would like to go to the island in free roam mode without any restrictions, then you’ve come to the right place. This guide will show you how you can roam around and explore the beautiful Cayo Perico for yourself.

You will be limited to sightseeing and running around the island, nothing more. Feel free to check out our video guide as well.

To perform this glitch, you need to set up the heist by going to your Kosatka as you would normally. After setting up the heist, start the Gather Intel mission, and make your way to the island.

Once you’re at the island, make your way to the communications tower and hack the signal box to get access to the sightseer app on your phone.

Once you have the app on your phone, you must get caught 4 times by a guard, a camera, or a patrolling vehicle. Make sure you only get caught 4 times as the fifth time, you will be kicked off the island.

After getting caught 4 times, make your way to a route or location where a patrolling vehicle passes by. A big red circle indicates the patrolling vehicle on the map.

Stand in the middle of the road, pull up your phone interface, and hover over the sightseer app until the car approaches you.

Once the car is nearby, open up the sightseer app, and wait until you get caught by the patrolling vehicle guard. After getting caught, you will be taken out of the app, and the ‘Gather Intel’ mission will abruptly end, leaving you in free roam mode while you are still on the island.

You will be able to access all your weapons, and there won’t be any guards or security cameras on the island. You can then easily explore the Cayo Perico island.

If you wish to leave the island, you can make your way to the party dance area and interact with the parked jeep beside the receptionist to return to Los Santos.

Or break the glitch by directly walking into the crowd of dancers on the dance floor. You will be kicked off the island as you should have when caught for the fifth time naturally.