You've finally made it past those annoying guards at the checkpoint. You’ve scoped the drainage pipe. Now, you’re staring at the planning screen, wondering if that pile of cash in the hangar is actually worth the extra five minutes of sneaking around. Honestly, gta 5 cayo perico secondary targets are what separate the casual players from the ones who actually buy the Yacht without going broke.
If you're just grabbing the primary target and bailing, you’re leaving millions on the table. It's kinda painful to watch. Pavel keeps telling us the island is "full of riches," and for once, the guy isn't just being dramatic. But not all loot is created equal.
Some stuff is basically filler. Other stuff is gold—literally.
What Most People Get Wrong About GTA 5 Cayo Perico Secondary Targets
The biggest mistake? Thinking everything is worth the bag space. Your loot bag has a very specific capacity. It's a weight limit, basically, and once it's full, you're done.
Gold is the king. If you’re running the heist with a partner, you should ignore almost everything else until your bags are heavy with bars. Gold takes up 66% of your bag per stack. This means one person can carry 1.5 stacks. If you see gold and you have a friend with you, that’s your priority. Period.
But what if you're solo? That’s where things get tricky. You can’t get into the gold storages inside the compound alone unless you’re using some glitches that Rockstar tries to patch every other Thursday. Most solo players are stuck with what's outside the compound.
Cocaine is your best friend in a solo run. It’s worth the most per "slot" of bag space outside of the compound walls. It fills 50% of your bag, so two stacks and you’re maxed out. If you find two stacks of coke at the Main Dock or the North Dock, you've hit the jackpot. You don't even need to look at the weed or the cash.
Breaking Down the Value: Is Cash Actually Trash?
Let's talk numbers, but not the boring kind. You need to know what's actually going into your bank account.
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Cocaine usually nets you around $220,000 to $225,000 per full bag equivalent. Since it only takes up half a bag, a full bag of coke is worth roughly **$440,000 to $450,000**. That is a massive chunk of change for a 10-minute heist.
Weed is the middle child. It’s okay. It’s fine. It fills 33% of your bag. You need three stacks to fill up. You’ll usually walk away with about $380,000 to $390,000 if your bag is pure grass. Not bad, but you’re working harder for less money than the coke-runners.
Then there’s Cash. Look, cash is better than nothing, but it’s the bottom of the barrel. It fills 25% of your bag. You need four stacks of it to fill up. A full bag of cash only gets you about $280,000 to $290,000.
Why does this matter? Because of the Elite Challenge.
To hit the Elite Challenge, you need to finish in under 15 minutes, have zero fails, and—this is the big one—full loot bags. If you waste time running across the map for a second stack of coke when there’s cash right in front of you and your bag is already 75% full, you might miss the 15-minute mark. Sometimes, taking the "bad" loot is the smart move just to get the $50,000 (or $100,000 on Hard Mode) Elite bonus.
The Painting Situation
Paintings are weird. They take up exactly 50% of your bag. They are super quick to grab because they’re usually hanging right there in El Rubio’s office.
The value is inconsistent, though. Usually, they’re worth about $180,000 to $200,000.
If you’re solo and you find a painting in the office, take it. It saves you from having to dodge guards at the docks later. It’s the "lazy man’s" high-tier loot. It's not as good as coke, but it's way better than running into a bush and getting caught by a guard because you were greedy for an extra $20k.
Where to Find the Best GTA 5 Cayo Perico Secondary Targets
You have to scope this stuff out during the Intel phase. Don't just look at the tower and leave.
The North Dock
This is a gold mine for solo players. There are three main loot spots here.
- The shed near the water.
- The internal storage near the crane.
- The little shack further back.
If you find two cokes here, your heist path is set. You land at the North Dock, grab the goods, take the boat to the drainage pipe, and you're golden.
The Main Dock
This place is crawling with guards, but it has the most loot spawns. It’s riskier. If you’re coming out of the compound and your bag isn't full yet, this is where you stop. There’s a shed right by the escape boats. Check it. If it has what you need, grab it and go. If not, you might have to sneak toward the warehouse near the entrance.
The Airstrip
A lot of people love the Airstrip because it's "safe." You can land your Velum, walk into the hangar, and there’s usually two or three loot spawns right there.
There is a hidden area in the hangar! You have to use the forklift to lift a crate, climb up, and there’s more loot on the balcony. I’ve seen so many people walk right past that. Don't be that guy.
Hard Mode and RNG: What You Need to Know
If you start the heist setup within one in-game day (48 minutes) of finishing the last one, you trigger Hard Mode.
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The gta 5 cayo perico secondary targets don't actually change in value much on Hard Mode, but the primary target gets a 10% buff. The real win is the Elite Challenge bonus doubling to $100,000.
RNG (Random Number Generation) is the boss here. Sometimes El Rubio has nothing but cash and weed across the whole island. It sucks. When that happens, you just have to pivot. Don't spend 20 minutes scouting every single corner of the map just to find one stack of coke. It’s not time-efficient.
The "Professional" move is to scout the Airstrip and the Main Dock. If you don't find coke in those two spots, just settle for weed or whatever is closest. Your time is worth more than the $40,000 difference between a bag of weed and a bag of coke.
Bag Capacity Quick Reference
- Gold: 66% (Need 1.5 stacks to fill)
- Cocaine: 50% (Need 2 stacks to fill)
- Paintings: 50% (Need 2 paintings to fill)
- Weed: 33% (Need 3 stacks to fill)
- Cash: 25% (Need 4 stacks to fill)
Secret Strategies for Solo Looting
So, you’re inside the compound. You’ve killed the guards, you’ve got the files or the diamond. Your bag is empty because you're a "Compound First" kind of player.
If you didn't get paintings in the office, you must leave the compound to fill your bag.
The easiest way? Run out the front gate, kill the guy on the bike, and drive straight off the cliff into the ocean on the left side of the island. Swim to the Main Dock. It sounds crazy, but it’s faster than sneaking through the woods. Once you're at the Main Dock, you can hit the sheds, fill your bag with whatever is there, and hop on a boat.
If you want the maximum possible payout, you should actually loot before you go to the compound.
Start at the Airstrip or North Dock. Fill your bag with Cocaine. Then go to the compound for the primary target. Why? Because once you have the primary target, the guards get way more aggressive. The escape is the hardest part. If your bag is already full when you leave the compound, you just have to jump in the water and swim away. No more looting, no more risk.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Next Heist
To make the most of your next run, change your workflow. Stop doing the same thing every time.
- Scout the Airstrip Hangar first. Use the forklift to check the top floor. If there are two stacks of Cocaine, stop scouting. You're done. That's your loot.
- Prioritize Cocaine > Weed > Cash. Only take Paintings if you are lazy or trying to beat a personal speedrun record.
- Always aim for Hard Mode. The extra $100k from the Elite Challenge covers the setup cost and then some.
- Use the Longfin approach. It’s better than the Kosatka for secondary targets. You can drive the boat to the Airstrip, loot everything, then drive to the drainage pipe. It's much more flexible.
The island is a puzzle. If you stop treating it like a linear mission and start treating it like a grocery haul, you’ll start clearing $1.5M+ every single time without breaking a sweat. Just watch out for the bushes. Those things are made of reinforced steel.