GTA Online business · The Cayo Perico Heist

Kosatka

A submarine you own and call in at sea, and the planning base for The Cayo Perico Heist, which is where all of its money comes from.

Heist headquarters
Active
Solo-friendly

To buy in: Price not confirmed
Management: Low
Raids: Not confirmed
Buy first: No other business

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Kosatka

What the Kosatka is

The Kosatka is a submarine bought from Warstock Cache & Carry and crewed by Pavel. As a holding it is a large mobile property, like a yacht or a command centre, with optional weapons, rooms and vehicles of its own.

It produces nothing by itself. Its income is The Cayo Perico Heist, which is planned on board and played out on El Rubio's island.

What you get

The submarine itself, with captain's quarters that act as a spawn point, a helm for moving it around the coast and a planning screen for the heist.
Optional fittings chosen at Warstock: a sonar station, guided missile seats, a weapon workshop in place of the brig, and moon-pool bays for a Sparrow helicopter and a Kraken Avisa mini-submarine.
Space in the moon pool for a Stromberg or Toreador you already own, and a Dinghy that Pavel delivers on request.

Before you buy

What you need

Meet Miguel Madrazo at The Music Locker and hear him out about the job; only then can the submarine be bought.
The Cayo Perico Heist can only be started while you are running a VIP or CEO organisation or a motorcycle club.

How to start

Meet Miguel Madrazo at The Music Locker, then buy the submarine from Warstock Cache & Carry. Options can be changed later, but nothing already paid for is refunded.

Call the sub in through the services section of the Interaction Menu and start the heist from its planning screen while you are a VIP, CEO or MC President.

How it runs and makes money

The heist starts with intelligence gathering: you visit the island in disguise to find the main target, the extra loot and the ways in and out. On later runs you arrive among the island's regular smugglers, in an aircraft you steal for the trip.

Preparation jobs then collect the approach vehicle, weapons and tools, and optional disruption jobs weaken the guards, each only once per run. Completing the sonar-jammer prep lets the Kosatka itself carry you in.

In the finale you take the main target from the vault and as much secondary loot, such as art, gold and cash, as you can, then escape. You pick the approach, the entry and exit points and the time of day, but can change course as you go.

The first run is the Madrazo Files, with its setup cost and fencing fees covered. Later runs target the vault's valuables and charge a fee up front.

Away from the heist, the sub can sail itself to fixed points on the coast for a fee, chosen at the helm, and the sonar finds hidden caches offshore.

Heist Prep: Gather Intel
Research
Scout the island in disguise for the main target, the secondary loot and the ways in and out. It can be repeated.
The Cayo Perico Heist: Preparations
Heist
Freemode jobs started from the sub's planning screen that fetch the approach vehicles, weapons and tools, with optional jobs to weaken the island's defences.
Heist Prep: Kosatka
Setup
Obtain a sonar jammer so the submarine itself can be chosen as the way in for the finale.
The Cayo Perico Heist
Heist1–4 players
Get into El Rubio's compound, take the main target from the vault and any secondary loot, and get away.
Hidden Caches
Other
Underwater caches off the coast, which the Sonar Station marks on the map.
Kosatka Fast Travel
Service work
Pay to move the sub to set points on the coast, chosen from the helm; it costs less once you have led the heist to completion.

Playing alone

Everything can be done alone, finale included, and the intelligence and prep jobs work in invite-only, friend and solo sessions. No prep sends you back for a second vehicle or item.

A solo run takes less, because some secondary loot sits behind doors that need a second player to open.

Figures

Only values two independent checks agree on. Payouts can change with updates, bonuses, lobby and difficulty.

Costs

Daily property fee: $150
The submarine with its default options: $2,200,000

Upgrades

Ordered by our rule: upgrades that raise production or value first, then ones some content needs, then the rest.

Sonar Station
Depends how you play
While you are at the controls, marks enemy submarines and hidden caches on your map. Other players on board cannot use it.
Unlocks content · Security
Price not confirmed
Guided Missiles
Depends how you play
Adds a pair of seats on the bridge from which anyone can steer a long-range cruise missile, each seat with its own wait between launches.
Security
Needs: The sub has to be on the surface to launch.
Price not confirmed
Weapon Workshop
Depends how you play
Turns the brig into a bench for modifying Mk II weapons and buying special ammunition.
Convenience
Price not confirmed
Sparrow
Depends how you play
A small armed helicopter kept on a lift inside the sub and requestable nearby, handy for getting around during the preps.
Convenience · Unlocks content
Price not confirmed
Kraken Avisa
Depends how you play
A personal mini-submarine in a bay of its own, for leaving and boarding the Kosatka underwater.
Convenience · Unlocks content
Price not confirmed

Risks and common mistakes

Risks

The sub is not a true safehouse: other players can destroy it with you inside, though you can call it in again straight away.

Rival organisations and clubs can steal prep equipment from you while you run a prep job.

Submerged, it stays off radar unless an enemy is close or has sonar of their own.

Common mistakes

Running preps in a public session, where rivals can take the equipment.
Expecting a refund when changing the sub's options later: what you already paid is lost.
Using up the disruption preps early: each can be done only once per run.

Good to know

Before you buy

The submarine can only be bought after meeting Miguel Madrazo at The Music Locker beneath the Diamond Casino.
The heist can only be started while you run a VIP or CEO organisation or a motorcycle club.

What it unlocks

The Kosatka is bought from Warstock Cache & Carry, and Pavel crews it.
Completing the sonar-jammer prep lets the Kosatka itself be chosen as the approach vehicle for the finale.

Moving and trading in

Options can be changed at Warstock after purchase, but nothing already paid for is credited back.

Storage

The sub, its moon-pool vehicles and a Dinghy are requested and sent back through the services section of the Interaction Menu, and a destroyed sub can be called in again at once.
Equipment collected during the preps is put on display around the submarine.

Raids and defence

The captain's quarters are a spawn point, but the sub is not a safe place: other players can destroy it with the owner on board.
Under water the sub stays off radar unless an enemy is close by or has sonar of their own.
Rival organisations and clubs can steal prep equipment from a player who is running a prep job.

Meters

The Kosatka carries a flat daily property fee, which the fee cut that came with The Contract update left unchanged.

Setting up

The first run targets the Madrazo Files with its setup cost and fencing fees covered; later runs go after the vault's valuables and charge a fee up front.
Intelligence is gathered by visiting the island in disguise; on later runs you fly in among its regular smugglers in a stolen aircraft.
The optional disruption preps weaken the island's guards, and each can be done only once per run.
The host picks the approach vehicle, entry and exit points and time of day, but is free to change plans during the finale.

Playing alone

Every stage, the finale included, can be played alone, though a solo crew takes less because some secondary loot is behind doors that need two players.
Intelligence and prep jobs can be run in invite-only, friend and solo sessions, and none of them needs more than one vehicle or item fetched.

Selling

Support crew such as snipers, airstrikes and recon drones are paid for in advance instead of taking a share of the take.
Secondary loot such as art, gold and cash adds to the take on top of the main target.
Replaying the heist in Hard mode raises the take.

What it connects to

Linked businesses

It runs on its own: no other business feeds it or depends on it.

Sensible next purchases

Arcade — The Arcade is another heist base that needs no other property first, and adds a small passive safe income the Kosatka lacks.
Nightclub — A Nightclub earns passively, which the Kosatka never does.

Contacts: Pavel, Miguel Madrazo, Juan Strickler (El Rubio)
Vehicles: Sparrow — Optional helicopter kept in the moon pool.
Avisa — Optional mini-submarine with its own moon-pool bay.
Stromberg — An owned submersible car that can dock in the moon pool.
Toreador — An owned submersible car that can dock in the moon pool.
Dinghy — Delivered by Pavel on request.
Velum — The aircraft stolen to reach the island on later intelligence runs.