Cayo Perico Island

Cayo Perico, also known simply as The Island or Paradise, is a playable location in Grand Theft Auto Online. A tropical private island off the coast of Colombia, it was introduced in the eponymous The Cayo Perico Heist ¹ update in which it heavily features.

Cayo Perico has relevance in GTA Online as a key endgame content location, as well as marking the first instance of the playable area of the game being expanded with new map or landmass.

Description

Ostensibly based on the real-life location of Norman's Cay, Cayo Perico is an incorrectly named volcanic island rather than a true cay. A private island located in the Carribbean, Cayo Perico is owned by drug magnate Juan Strickler, known bu his alias El Rubio.

Located on the island are two docks, an airstrip, a heavily fortified villa compound, an numerous facilities producing or shipping illegal drugs, mainly cocaine and marijuana. The island's name directly translates to 'Parakeet Cay', but can be interpreted as Cocaine Cay.

Additionally, Cayo Perico has a large solar farm, and a large beach party venue, both of which are used by El Rubio as legitimate fronts to mask the illegal smuggling business operating off the island.

The island's coast is dominated by cliffs, however ample beaches are also present. Due to the tropical nature of the island, the in-game weather is always warm and sunny, with a chance to trigger a thunderstorm during the heist finale mission.

Map

Below is our Cayo Perico map, containing all the points of interest you need to complete the Cayo Perico Heist.

History

Based on some structures seen in game, as well as certain collectibles and environmental assets, Cayo Perico has been intermittently inhabited by humans for possibly thousands of years.

In the modern era, it was acquired by one of the world's biggest drug trafficking magnates, Juan Strickler, and turned into a heavily fortified headquarters for his business.

In 2020, the GTA Online Protagonist and English Dave attend a party on Cayo Perico in order to scout the location for a heist. After performing a number of preparations stealthily, the Protagonist executes the heist and escapes Cayo Perico. Following this initial heist, the Protagonist returns an indeterminate amount of times to further rob El Rubio's estate while exploring the island.