Cayo Perico (commonly referred to as just The Island or Paradise) is a private island in the Caribbean, off the coast of Colombia[1], that appears in Grand Theft Auto Online as part of The Cayo Perico Heist update.
Description
Cayo Perico is considered one of the most secure private islands in the entire world, and the location of the remote island compound of the world’s most notorious drug dealer, Juan Strickler (also known as El Rubio).[4] It also contains an untold fortune in art, gold and drug money, scattered across the island.
Cayo Perico is not only the nerve center of El Rubio’s drug empire, but also plays host to his other great love: marathon beach dance parties, where everyone from jetsetters and heiresses to legendary music producers gather to rave until the sun comes up.[5]
The island first appeared in the "El Rubio Dossier" teaser released during the Los Santos Summer Special update, which contained views of three locations on the island, including a sprawling clifftop Spanish-style estate, a security tower and a farm.
History
(Spanish: "Cayo Perico... Ni siquiera sabían cómo se llamaba antes de llegar.")”
A Primitive Shelter is situated in the southeastern area, implying an untold prehistory.
Various artifacts around the island give hints to its history, including a cemetery near the airstrip, several collapsed obelisks, one of which forms the center point of a circular graveyard of 13 plots and relics from the Spanish Empire such as conquistador armor.
At some point before 2020, Juan "El Rubio" Strickler, one of the world's biggest narcotraffickers, acquired the island and made it the center of his criminal empire, and renamed it "Cayo Perico" (which translates to "Cocaine Cay"). He established enormous marijuana farms and cocaine factories on the island and installed an airstrip and two docks to distribute his products. Strickler also established a solar farm on the island to hide his activities using his green advocacy as a front. To generate more income, he opened a beach party on his island to hard partygoers to sneak his products in. On the southernmost part of the island is a mansion where El Rubio hides a collection of gold and other expensive and rare items such as a limited-edition, diamond-encrusted bottle of Sinsimito Tequila, a ruby necklace, several bearer bonds, a large pink diamond, and a diamond-encrusted panther statue sitting on a large sapphire ball. Any guest or criminal who attempted to steal from El Rubio were either shot to death or fed to El Rubio's pet panther, littering the island with corpses. Pavel stated there were successful heists in the past, but those who were behind them did not live long to savor their victory because El Rubio identified them by their weapons, and their bodies were "sent to the panther's cage in very small boxes".
Geography
Although the name of the island is "Cayo Perico"—which translates to "Cocaine Cay" in Spanish (or lit. "Parakeet Cay")—Cayo Perico is not a cay in the topographic sense, and is actually a high island telling by its rocky topography and elevation. With the exception of a few beaches, Cayo Perico contains little sand, with most beaches on the island being covered by small rocks.
Cayo Perico’s weather is always set to clear during heist intel or regular visits, therefore having no chance of rain or snow, although there is a very small chance that the weather can be set to a thunderstorm during the Cayo Perico Heist finale.
Wildlife
While there are no native fauna seen on land, the wildlife is heard in abundance, including frogs, birds and snakes. A black panther is kept in captivity in El Rubio's compound. A mutilated shark and a stranded whale can be seen, and there are whale skeletons in the water. The "Loch Santos Monster" inhabits the surrounding seas. Schools of tropical fish can also be seen in the water.
Points of Interest
The island is littered with many historical artifacts and interesting objects, some of which are relevant to the heist and will be able to be sent to Pavel during intel gathering for The Cayo Perico Heist. Others are just noteworthy for existing.
The surrounding waters are home to many Wrecks as well as a large meteorite in the far northwest.
Skeletons and corpses
There are many skeletons and corpses, some in plain view, some hidden.
| Name | Description including Pavel's commentary. |
Location | Image | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smuggler. | A skeleton holding Cocaine with more bricks scattered around. | Small western beach (between West Beach and the Fishing Jetty). |  |
 |
| Party goer. | “Well, well. A guest at the last party, perhaps. Just think, if we do not pull this off perfectly, we too will be found like this...”
— Pavel |
Rock promontory just north of West Beach, only visible from clifftop above. |  |
 |
| Conquistadors | A selection of artifacts including Conquistador skeletons in armour. | On a small island off the west coast. |  |
 |
| Smuggler | A smuggler with Cocaine brick in a sunken Narcosub. | Underwater off the southwest edge of the larger of the two islands west of Cayo Perico. |  |
 |
| Robber | Remains of an intruder killed while trying to breach the compound fence. | Western end of the compound perimeter wall/fence. |  |
 |
| Whale | A whale skeleton | In the sea, off the southeastern coast. |  |
 |
| Whale with alien egg. | A whale skeleton with an alien egg. | In the sea, off the northeastern coast. |  |
 |
| 8[7] wrapped corpses. | Two female bodies wrapped up. | Off the southwest point close to the shore. |  |
 |
| A wrecked Blista Compact with three more female corpses | Near the drainage tunnel entry to El Rubio's Compound. |  |
 | |
| Two more more female corpses | Near the drainage tunnel entry to El Rubio's Compound, just east of the three above. |  |
||
| One wrapped corpse | Just southeast of the above two corpses. |  |
||
| Whale | “Well, well. You do not see this too often on dry land. It must have become beached”
— Pavel |
Next to the fishing jetty on the western part of the island. |  |
 |
| Shark | The mauled corpse of a shark. | Eastern shoreline |  |
 |
Locations and Landmarks
- West Beach
- Cayo Perico Airstrip
- Cayo Perico Power Station
- Cayo Perico Lighthouse
- Cayo Perico Solar Farm
- El Rubio's Compound
- North Dock
- Main Dock
- Communications Tower
- Crop Fields
- Campsite
- Fishing Jetty
Influence
The island appears to be based on Norman's Cay (a.k.a. Cayo Norman), a small Bahamian island used by the Medellín Cartel as a transshipment base for smuggling cocaine into the United States and as a private party island, while the estates and welcome sign are based on Hacienda Nápoles, a luxurious estate built and owned by Colombian drug lord and Medellín Cartel leader Pablo Escobar. Cayo Perico's airfield also bears some resemblance with the real-life Norman's Cay Airport. The party and the musical guests are also likely an allusion to the infamous Fyre Festival, a fraudulent attempt to host a luxury music festival in Norman's Cay that ended in utter disaster.
The shape of the island appears to be based on Canouan, a small island belonging to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, mirrored and rotated.
Perico is also a slang for "cocaine" in Mexico and Colombia, referencing the fact that the island has a cocaine farm.
Events of Grand Theft Auto Online
The Cayo Perico Heist
Cayo Perico is first visited in late 2020 when the GTA Online Protagonist accompanies English Dave to a party hosted by Juan Strickler under the guise of a management member. The player then sneaks off to scope out the island, by hacking into a communication tower to gain access to Strickler's compound's CCTV in order to find out where Martin Madrazo's files are being kept. Afterwards, Pavel directs the player to scope out the North Dock and some secondary targets, before instructing them to continue scoping for infiltration, escape points, point of interests or return to Los Santos to prepare for the heist. Once all preparation works are done, the crew executes the heist, recover Madrazo's files and escapes.
Pavel later informs the player that they can return to Cayo Perico to pull off more heists once Strickler stocks up on more cash, gold, and other equipment to be robbed. The party was over, so the player must pose as smugglers in order to access the island again.
At any point during the heist setup, players can return to Cayo Perico to scope out additional information.
After completing the heist as host, players can return to Cayo Perico and attend the party in free roam. It's not possible to explore the island while the party's going on.
The Contract
While the island does not make any appearance in The Contract update, it's mentioned that Pavel has visited Franklin Clinton's Agency (offscreen) in 2021, looking for the GTA Online Protagonist, and asking when the protagonist is going to take "another trip to the Caribbean", confirming they are still occasionally robbing El Rubio's Compound to this date. Franklin may also ask if the GTA Online Protagonist has ever been in the Caribbean, possibly referring to Keinemusik Beach Party.
One of the party guests makes an appearance inside Record A Studios after the mission Studio Time. If the player visits Record A Studios after that mission and bumps into her, she'll recognize them as the person from "that island thing a while ago", referring to the Keinemusik Beach Party during the first playthrough of The Cayo Perico Heist.
The Criminal Enterprises
In 2022, as part of The Criminal Enterprises update, a Metal Detector can be found during a Random Event in Los Santos, next to a skeleton carrying a Cayo Perico treasure map. The Metal Detector can be used to locate daily Buried Stashes on Cayo Perico while re-scoping the heist.
The update also introduced the Cayo Perico Series, a series of races set in the island of Cayo Perico to be played by 1 to 8 players. The races are not related to the game's narrative whatsoever and are at present the only non-glitch way for a player to operate personal vehicles (at least those eligible for races) on or around Cayo Perico.
San Andreas Mercenaries
Cayo Perico, Juan Strickler and the heist are mentioned multiple times in the San Andreas Mercenaries update by returning heist crew members Charlie Reed, Rooster McCraw and Pernell Moss. Pernell says he's still spending his cut from the protagonist's previous heist, while Rooster suggests the protagonist keep robbing Strickler's compound.
The update also introduced the Assault on Cayo Perico adversary mode.
Mission Appearances
Grand Theft Auto Online
The Cayo Perico Heist
- Heist Prep: Gather Intel
- The Cayo Perico Heist
- DJ Requests
- Keinemusik - Collect the skate merchandise
- Keinemusik - Collect the pizza
- Keinemusik - Recover the chakra stones
The Criminal Enterprises
Races
San Andreas Mercenaries
Adversary Modes
- Assault on Cayo Perico
Gallery
- Pre-release
- Newswire release
- In game
- Map
Trivia
- The island shares some programming traits with other outside locations in prior games: Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and North Yankton/Ludendorff in Grand Theft Auto V.
- The island can only be visited in missions or by a scripted/restricted trip to the dance parties.
- There are no radio stations available when traveling by vehicle on the island; however, they can be accessed during races.
- Just like Lundendorff, Cayo Perico is located in the same game world as the main map and is only loaded when needed. The Cayo Perico map is located south-east off the coast of Terminal.
- Most of the island's flora and environment sounds are reused assets from Guarma in Red Dead Redemption 2.
- Vehicles on the island all have San Andreas license plates, unlike the Ludendorff-dedicated snowy models/variants which had a dedicated North Yankton plate applied.
- With the exception of a Speedo parked outside the compound, some Wrecks, and rarely spawning Verus ATVs, El Rubio and his cartel seem to avoid the use of modern land vehicles on the island, including Juan’s personal Stafford and Brioso 300.
- The horn and lights on vehicles do not function when the player scopes the island, but they function during the heist finale.
- If the player takes a photo with the Snapmatic app, the photo's location name is displayed as being "San Andreas" instead of Cayo Perico. This is most likely due to the fact that the game is scripted to display the Pacific Ocean or San Andreas name if the player is too far from the map.
- The island is only mentioned by name by the guards in only one dialogue. This may mean that Cayo Perico's name came at the end of the development of the DLC. Most dialogues refer it as "The Island" and "Paradise".
- In the Kosatka/Pavel introduction cutscene, the coordinates for Cayo Perico are shown on the Heist Planning Table as 55.9533° N, 3.1883° W. When entered into Google Earth however, it's revealed that these are actually the coordinates for Edinburgh, Scotland where Rockstar North is headquartered. Their offices at Barclay House as of 2021 are several streets over to the southeast of the direct coordinate point.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “Strickler's got this private island off the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Grows a bunch of coke and weed down there... has got himself some big compound. Lots of guards, hi-tech security, the whole works.”— Miguel Madrazo during The Music Locker Intro.
- ↑ Cayo Perico Coat of Arms at El Rubio's Compound and Perico Pistol engravements.
- ↑
\update\x64\dlcpacks\mpheist4\dlc1.rpf\x64\levels\gta5\interiors\dlc_int_04_h4.rpf\h4_int_04_coat_of_arms.ydr - ↑ "The Cayo Perico Heist: Coming December 15 to GTA Online" – Rockstar Newswire
- ↑ "Watch the New Trailer for The Cayo Perico Heist" – Rockstar Newswire
- ↑ Guard 1:“I swear, man, it crashed right over there.”Guard 2:“So what, he like, took the controls?”Guard 1:“Yeah, man. Out of his fucking mind.”Guard 2:“The American?”Guard 1:“They're all American. The party guy, you know?”Guard 2:“Oh yeah, that asshole.”Guard 2:“So what did you do?”Guard 1:“Me? Nothing. Camilo took him behind a rock.”Guard 2:“What... at the party?”Guard 1:“Yeah.”— Two guards overheard during the heist finale.
- ↑ Game files:Prop positions
<archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_02</archetypeName> <position x="5076.25200000" y="-5804.79800000" z="-10.37372000"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_01</archetypeName> <position x="5068.41600000" y="-5792.25300000" z="-6.57220500"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_02</archetypeName> <position x="5066.49200000" y="-5795.96100000" z="-7.35724800"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_01</archetypeName> <position x="4825.38000000" y="-6044.04600000" z="-5.20295800"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_01</archetypeName> <position x="5048.69700000" y="-5830.24300000" z="-15.32573000"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_01</archetypeName> <position x="4824.34000000" y="-6045.57500000" z="-5.36462900"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_01</archetypeName> <position x="5044.38700000" y="-5827.08900000" z="-15.33052000"/> <archetypeName>Prop_water_corpse_01</archetypeName> <position x="5052.92900000" y="-5826.10400000" z="-15.02450000"/>