GTA Online Shipwreck Locations: Map & Rotation

Quick Facts

All 30 Shipwreck locations

The overview map above shows roughly where all 30 wrecks sit around San Andreas, but it does not tell you which spots are active. The table below does. The location names are our map's zone names, not landmarks: the pin behind each link marks the exact spot. You can also browse all 30 pins at once on our interactive GTA Online shipwreck locations map via the shipwreck layer.

Three locations (#18, #19 and #20) exist in the game data but never appear in the rotation, so do not waste a trip on them. The "Days per 84-day cycle" column shows how many of the 84 days in the rotation land on each spot, so the higher the number, the more often you will find the chest there.

Paleto Bay West is the busiest spot at 7 days per cycle, and the two Paleto Bay pins plus Pacific Ocean Northwest between them cover 17 of the 84 days, about 20% of the calendar. The airport, Terminal and Palomino Highlands South only turn up once each per cycle.

The rotation is not random

It is easy to assume the daily Shipwreck spawns randomly in one of 30 spots. It does not. The game works out which day it is, takes that day number modulo 84, and looks the result up in a hardcoded 84-entry table. The same day of the cycle always produces the same location, and the whole schedule repeats every 84 days. We read this straight out of the game's decompiled scripts, extracted it twice independently, and matched it against two independent live trackers.

That determinism is why our today page can compute the current location instead of guessing, and why it can tell you tomorrow's spot too. It is also why only 27 locations matter: locations #18, #19 and #20 never appear anywhere in the 84-entry table.

Two more things worth knowing. The rotation ticks over at the daily reset, 06:00 UTC, the same reset as the Daily Challenges. And the location is identical for every player in every lobby, public or invite-only, so everyone in your session can collect the same chest.

One honest caveat: Rockstar has a server-side switch that can pin the rotation to a single slot, which would freeze the schedule until they clear it. So treat the cycle as reliable rather than guaranteed.

How to find the daily Shipwreck

You are looking for a wrecked wooden longboat at the water's edge with a chest beside it. It is small and easy to miss from a distance, so aim for the pin and search on foot once you are close. Almost all of the wrecks sit right on the shoreline, and one or two sit right at the waterline, so expect to get your feet wet at a few spots. Land, air and sea vehicles all work for the trip; pick whatever gets you across the map fastest.

As you get close, the chest gives off a repeating sound and your controller vibrates, the same proximity tell as the Treasure Hunt collectibles. Hear the sound, slow down and sweep the shoreline.

If you are already flying the coast for the 10 daily Hidden Caches, grab the Shipwreck on the same run: same coastline, same kind of trip, and the two payouts stack nicely.

Not sure whether you have already grabbed today's chest? You can check from the Interaction Menu.

Rewards and the Frontier Outfit

A Shipwreck chest normally pays GTA$ 25,000 and 2,000 RP. If you have seen GTA$ 20,000 quoted, that is the old figure: Shipwrecks launched at GTA$ 20,000 in 2021, and the San Andreas Mercenaries update raised it to GTA$ 25,000 in June 2023 as part of a payout lift across the daily collectibles. Rockstar also runs recurring 2X GTA$ and RP bonus weeks on Shipwrecks; while one is live, the chest pays GTA$ 50,000 and 4,000 RP.

Your first seven chests each also contain one Outfit Scrap. Collect all seven and you unlock the Frontier Outfit, which should then appear under Outfits: Special at a wardrobe or clothing store. Since only one Shipwreck spawns per day, the outfit takes a minimum of seven days. Chests after the seventh still pay full cash and RP, they just carry no scrap.

If GTA$ 25,000 a day, minimum, sounds good, the same daily-loop logic applies elsewhere: the Cayo Perico Treasure Chests pay out on the same once-a-day rhythm, and our collectibles hub tracks every collectible set in one place.

FAQ

Is the Shipwreck in the same place for every player?
Yes. The daily location is identical for everyone, in every lobby, public or invite-only. Everyone in a session can collect the same chest.

What time does the Shipwreck location change?
At 06:00 UTC, the same daily reset as the Daily Challenges.

Is the daily Shipwreck location random?
No. It follows a fixed 84-day cycle read from a hardcoded table in the game's scripts. The same cycle day always produces the same location.

Do all 30 Shipwreck locations spawn?
No. Only 27 do. Locations #18, #19 and #20 exist in the game data but never appear in the rotation.

How much does the Shipwreck chest pay?
GTA$ 25,000 and 2,000 RP normally, raised from GTA$ 20,000 in June 2023. In weeks where Rockstar runs a 2X Shipwrecks bonus, the chest pays GTA$ 50,000 and 4,000 RP.

Do chests keep giving Outfit Scraps after the seventh?
No. Only your first seven chests contain scraps. After that, chests still pay the full cash and RP.

How do I know if I already collected today's Shipwreck?
You can check from the Interaction Menu.