Cayo Perico Heist Guide: Payouts, Preps and Cooldowns

The Cayo Perico Heist is still the heist most GTA Online players can repeat on their own, but as of September 30, 2026 it pays noticeably less than it used to. Rockstar’s Title Update 1.73 of July 14, 2026 made “further adjustments” to its target values, and press reports put the Pink Diamond at GTA$910,000 on Normal, down from GTA$1.3 million. It did not receive the weekly completion bonus that other heists got. What follows is the full loop, from the submarine to the payout, with every value dated.

At a glance

Released	December 15, 2020, in The Cayo Perico Heist update
Players	1 to 4
Base of operations	Kosatka submarine, from GTA$2,200,000 at Warstock Cache & Carry
Contacts	Miguel Madrazo, then Pavel on the Kosatka
Replay setup fee	GTA$100,000 (the first run is free)
Deductions on replays	10% fence fee, 2% for Pavel
Cooldown	144 minutes solo, 48 minutes in a group
Weekly bonus	none, as of 1.73

The launch date and the player count come from Rockstar’s Newswire. The prices, fees and cooldowns are listed by the GTA Wiki.

How to start

You need to be registered as a CEO, VIP or Motorcycle Club President. Miguel Madrazo sends a text inviting you to The Music Locker, the club under the Diamond Casino & Resort. He sends you to buy a Kosatka, the nuclear submarine that serves as your planning room. The cheapest configuration is enough; the Sonar Station, Guided Missiles and Weapon Workshop are optional upgrades.

Cayo Perico itself is not part of the Los Santos map. It is a private island in the Caribbean, reached by sub, plane, helicopter or boat.

Step 1: scoping the island

The heist starts with Gather Intel, a free-roam mission you can play alone and in an invite-only session. On your first playthrough you arrive undercover as the tour manager of a DJ booked for El Rubio’s beach party. On every run after that you fly in disguised as one of the island’s drug smugglers.

You cannot fight during scoping, so the whole mission is stealth. The minimum is to locate the Primary Target, but scoping more pays off:

• Infiltration points such as the Main Dock, the North Dock, the Airstrip and the drop zones.
• Compound entry points: the Main Gate, the side gates, the walls and the drainage tunnel.
• Secondary targets: cash, weed, cocaine, gold and paintings.
• Equipment hidden on the island, such as grappling hooks, guard clothes and bolt cutters.

Note where the Primary Target sits. If it is in the safe, you will need the Safe Code. If it is in the glass case, you will need the Plasma Cutter.

Step 2: the preps

Everything is launched from the planning screen on the Kosatka, and you must redo the preps every time. The GTA Wiki splits them into four groups:

Group	What you must do
Approach vehicle	At least one: Kosatka (steal a sonar deflector), RO-86 Alkonost, Velum 5-Seater, Annihilator Stealth, Kurtz 31 Patrol Boat or Longfin
Equipment	The Fingerprint Cloner, the Safe Code or Plasma Cutter for your target, and one compound entry tool (Cutting Torch or Demolition Charges)
Weapon loadout	One “Unmarked Weapons” mission; suppressors cost GTA$5,000
Disruption (optional)	Weaken the guards’ weapons, destroy their armor, or remove their Buzzard air support

A few preps send you across San Andreas. The Alkonost is stolen from Fort Zancudo, the Safe Code comes from a party in the Diamond Casino penthouse, and the Demolition Charges sit in the basement of the O’Neil ranch. The Kosatka approach needs a single prep, and it is the only one that lets you swim in through the drainage tunnel.

Step 3: the finale

On the finale screen you choose the approach vehicle, infiltration point, compound entry, escape point, time of day and loadout. Unlike older heists, only the approach vehicle and loadout are locked in; the rest can change on the fly once you land.

How you enter the compound decides your style:

• Aggressive: blow the Main Gate with the Demolition Charges. The alarm goes off.
• Big Con: ride the supply truck with the whole crew in guard uniforms.
• Stealth: use a side gate with the keypad code dropped by a guard, climb a wall with a grappling hook, or go through the drainage tunnel with the Cutting Torch.

At night, cutting the island’s power at the power station also shrinks the guards’ vision cones and switches off the cameras until you reach the compound. Inside, one player hacks the fingerprint scanner to reach the vault, then opens the safe or cuts the glass. After the Primary Target, fresh guards spawn and El Rubio joins the chase from his helicopter, so fill your bag before you take the target if you can. Your first run ends at Miguel’s mansion in Vinewood Hills; on repeat runs, his man Jorge fences the loot.

Payouts as of September 30, 2026

The difficulty only changes the Primary Target, worth 10% more on Hard. Hard mode is offered when you start a new run within 48 minutes of Pavel’s text saying the heist is ready again.

Primary Target	Normal	Hard
Pink Diamond	GTA$910,000	GTA$1,001,000
Bearer Bonds	GTA$616,000	GTA$677,000
Ruby Necklace	GTA$560,000	GTA$616,000
Sinsimito Tequila	GTA$400,000	GTA$440,000
Madrazo Files (first run only)	GTA$1,100,000	not available
Panther Statue (events only)	GTA$1,900,000	GTA$2,090,000

The four regular targets were reported by Game Rant and other outlets after the July update and match the GTA Wiki. The Madrazo Files and Panther Statue values are the wiki’s. Secondary loot was reported down by about 10% in July.

Updated October 21, 2026: these values still stand. Rockstar’s patch notes list no economy change since July, only the return of Halloween content on October 1. Until November 4, the island also pays in another mode: Cayo Perico Survival is one of the Halloween Survivals paying 3X GTA$ and RP, and 6X for GTA+ members.

Secondary targets fill your bag. Gold is the most valuable per bag and sits inside the compound behind doors that need two players with keycards at the same time. Solo players are mostly limited to the cash, weed and cocaine lockups around the island, plus the odd painting in El Rubio’s office. The office safe also holds a small amount of cash that does not take bag space.

How the payouts changed over time

When	Update	What changed
July 2021	Los Santos Tuners	Guards reworked, Longfin slowed
July 2022	The Criminal Enterprises	Replay cooldown set to 144 minutes solo, 48 in a group
June 2023	San Andreas Mercenaries	Tequila, Ruby Necklace and Bearer Bonds cut by 30%, secondary loot cut by 10%, setup fee raised from GTA$25,000 to 100,000
July 14, 2026	The Kortz Center Heist (1.73)	Target values adjusted again (Pink Diamond reported from 1.3 million to 910,000), appearance rates now refresh weekly

The 2021 to 2023 changes are documented by the GTA Wiki. For 1.73, the principle is in Rockstar’s official patch notes; the amounts are press reports. Game Rant also reports that repeat runs in the same week are far more likely to roll the Tequila, which is why your first run after the Thursday reset is the one to prioritise.

Is it still worth it?

For a solo player with a Kosatka already paid for, yes, as a repeatable earner between weekly bonus runs. It is no longer the best money per hour on its own. Our guide to making money in GTA Online compares it with the Kortz Center Heist, which rewards the first run of each week far more generously, and our Mansions guide covers the property you need to host that one.