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GTA Cayo Perico Heist missions and all secondary targets

The minimum steps required to get the bonus items for the Cayo Perico Heist

Want to know how many missions there are in the Cayo Perico Heist? As perhaps the biggest expansion of the year, there’s an incentive to complete this heist as soon as you can. Rockstar has detailed some heist bonuses that are only available for a limited time.

Naturally, as is the way with GTA Online, you’ll likely want that all-important swag before the deadline, but it’s good to know what kind of missions you need to complete in order to unlock some of the special bonus items that are now available in the game before the cut-off date. You wouldn’t want to miss out on those would you? Nah, we didn’t think so!

The first step is knowing how to start the GTA Cayo Perico Heist. After doing this, you’ll get access to one of the weapons and some new vehicles, but also various missions to prepare for the heist itself. We’ll be listing each one here and what type of mission it is so that you can get the most from the heist.

Cayo Perico Heist mission list

There are three main Cayo Perico missions in total:

  • Intel – find the Madrazo Files on Cayo Perico
  • Prep – grab the equipment you need for the heist
  • Finale – steal the Madrazo Files and escape Cayo Perico

Some revellers dancing the night away on the private beach in GTA Online's Cayo Perico.

Heist Intel

For the Heist Intel mission, you’ll need to meet English Dave and Keinemusik at the Los Santos International Airport’s private terminal. After touching down on the island, you’ll be greeted by Rubio and his entourage. He’ll ask you to drive his jeep while the band gets set up. Follow Rubio’s directions to the private beach. Eventually the party will get started and you can sneak past the guards to explore the rest of the island. You don’t have to explore everything on the island, but there is a maximum number of intel targets you can scan, including all the points of interest in the GTA Cayo Perico Heist:

  • Primary target: Madrazo Files
  • Secondary targets: 1x painting and 2x gold stash. There’s also cash and weed.
  • Infiltration points: 8
  • Escape points: 4
  • Compound entry points: 6
  • Points of interest: 6

Your first issue is trying to sneak past the checkpoint. Make sure the coast is clear, then make a beeline for the right side of the checkpoint, weaving past the boxes. There are no cameras there but move fast and into the shrubbery close by. Pavel will then explain that the roads on the east side of the island are safer to navigate. Use these to head for the compound in the south.

A look at the local landscape in GTA's Cayo Perico Heist island. There is a communications tower in the foreground.

When you arrive at the compound, wait for Pavel to tell you where you can hack the compound’s CCTV system, then head there. You are looking for the communications tower up the mountains to the north of the compound (there is a lookout tower between the compound and the communications tower, so try not to be seen). Climb up and find the signal box to hack the CCTV.

To hack the circuits, Match the numbers to the symbols to increase the result number at the bottom of the screen. It needs to match the target at the top of the screen. After hacking the system, use the Sightseer app to look through the cameras. Cycle through until you see the basement and turn the camera to find the files. Use the cameras to then find other points of interest, secondary targets, infiltration and escape points, and compound entry points.

Before heading back to the part, head to the northern dock, which is back past the checkpoint towards the party. When you arrive, use the Snapmatic app on the phone to grab some pictures of the dock. As soon as Pavel receives it, he’ll inform you of more stuff that you can take pictures of in the warehouse for intel.

There’s a whole bunch of other stuff to find on the island to nab pictures of in preparation for the heist, but this is the minimum you need. We have all the GTA Cayo Perico points of interest in a list if you need them. When you are done, head back to the airstrip, snap a photo of the control tower for Pavel, then talk to the pilot to head home.

Secondary targets

Some of the secondary targets, namely the bundles of cash and gold bars, have slightly randomised placement, there is also one painting to pilfer from the cartel and a couple of bags of weed. The painting is found in the compound by cycling through the CCTV until you find it. The weed can be found on the docks inside the warehouses.

Using the periscope on the submarine that you can buy in the GTA Online Cayo Perico Heist update.

Heist prep

In order to execute the heist, you’ll need to satisfy the conditions on the checklist of required equipment to ensure the mission goes smoothly. The checklist for the heist prep is as follows:

  • Acquire and man five approach vehicles
  • Collect three pieces of equipment
  • Obtain one weapon loadout
  • Organise three disruptions

However, there are a whole bunch of optional objectives you will need to complete to fully plan the mission. If you just want to complete the heist as quickly as possible, you’ll only need the Kosatka submarine, all three pieces of equipment, and one of the five different loadouts (we’d advise buying suppressors too). The rest are optional, but will make the heist go a lot more smoothly.

Heist finale

You should now have everything you need, but here are some tips for the heist itself.

  • If you can afford it, invest in some support crew to damage the enemy’s defences or give you supply drops.
  • The Weapon Stash requires the Velum plane to be obtained during mission prep.
  • Make sure to disable the control tower at the landing strip. This helps your support crew do their job.
  • Keep low when swimming to the compound. This will ensure you avoid detection and the mines in the water.
  • Try not to spook the guards too early on. Helicopters will be a constant thorn in your side if you do.
  • You can take on this heist solo, but some items are locked behind doors that require two people to get in. Bring a friend with you on subsequent heists.
  • There are checkpoints in the heist, so don’t worry if you die.
  • When you get to the vault, Pavel will text you the code.

A clubber in GTA Online with the Manor tie-dye tee. This is a limited time bonus reward for completing the Cayo Perico missions. She doesn't look too impressed about it.

Cayo Perico Heist bonuses

As listed in Rockstar’s newswire post for the heist bonuses, the bulk of the bonuses are available between now and January 14. You may need to wait 72 hours after the completion of one of these tasks to get your bonus item. There is also a community weekend beginning December 18 and lasting until December 20 where you can nab some extra goodies.

Bonus item Unlock condition
Manor tie-dye tee Complete a scoping mission
Rockstar gray pattern tee Complete a prep mission
Panther tour jacket Complete the Heist finale
Dinka Veto Classic Unlock for free if you play GTA Online anytime between December 18 – 20. Goes on sale December 21.
Panther varsity jacket Complete a Heist anytime between December 18 – 20 (if GTA Online community steal $100 million or more)

And with that, you should now know everything about the Cayo Perico missions for GTA. The best bit is that after stealing from Rubio once, you can come back to the submarine and plan to pilfer some more stuff! Speaking of new stuff, you should probably check out details about the Cayo Perico Heist payout so that you can fully plan your next heist.