Trevor caught a bigger fish than his boat could handle.
In his brief day trip around the Los Santos Port, Trevor spots a Merryweather-guarded ship potentially hiding a valuable military device worth millions to the right buyer.
Upon further investigation, Trevor finds out that there are two devices – one located deep within the ship at the Los Santos Port and another out at a test site at sea.
The Merryweather Heist – Offshore Approach is one of two approaches you can take to complete The Merryweather Heist Mission in GTA 5, the other being the Freighter Approach.
In this guide, we have outlined everything you need to know about The Merryweather Heist – Offshore Approach and how you can get a Gold Medal for completing the mission.
The Merryweather Heist – Offshore Approach Synopsis
Trevor receives a call from Wade telling him that the preparations for the heist have been completed. Wade also tells Trevor that his cousin Floyd does not think meeting up at the condo is a good idea, but Trevor tells Wade to meet him at Floyd’s condo anyway.
When Trevor arrives at Floyd’s condo, he is greeted by Wade and his cousin Floyd. Michael arrives a few moments later, followed closely by Franklin. With the trio complete, Trevor lays down his plan for the upcoming job.
The trio head for Sandy Shores, where Trevor’s helicopter and the mini-sub they need to do the job are waiting.
The trio then headed to the test site to search for the offshore device described in the Merryweather manifest.
Michael and Franklin wait in the helicopter while Trevor pilots the mini-sub to look for the device underwater.
It doesn’t take Trevor too long to find the device, thanks to some help from the Trackify app, but the same app also makes it very easy for Merryweather to track Trevor and the gang.
Just as Michael and Franklin finish hooking Trevor’s mini-sub back on the helicopter, Merryweather agents in helicopters and boats arrive and start pursuing the trio.
Franklin takes down Merryweather while Michael pilots the helicopter back to Sandy Shores Airfield. Franklin eventually fends off the helicopters and boats, enabling the trio to fly back to Sandy Shores Airfield safely.
The trio arrives at the Sandy Shores Airfield and is greeted by a livid Lester, who informs the trio that their stolen device is a super weapon.
Lester warns Trevor that the government will put Trevor and everyone he knows on their kill list once they find out who pulled the superweapon from the test site.
Trevor is left with no choice but to tell Wade to pilot the helicopter and deliver the super weapon back to the sea. Michael and Franklin leave first, leaving Trevor alone at the airfield to vent his frustration.
The Merryweather Heist – Offshore Approach Gold Medal Objectives
- Salvager: Find the container within 02:00.
- Time: Complete within 14:30.
- Show no Mercenary: Eliminate all pursuing Merryweather enemies.
- Weathering the Storm: Escape the pursuing Merryweather enemies in less than 4 minutes.
All Gold Medal objectives for this mission can be completed through multiple replays. You can return another time and replay the mission to get the rest of the Gold Medal objectives.
The Merryweather Heist – Offshore Approach Mission Guide
Choose the “Offshore” Approach to start the mission.
Get in the car with Trevor and Franklin, then drive to Sandy Shores Airfield to pick up the Cargobob.
Now comes the tricky part. You need to hover above the Minisub to hook it onto the Cargobob. This is certainly easier said than done, as Michael is piloting this mission.
Try to hook the Minisub as quickly as possible, as you only have 14 minutes to complete the mission for a Gold Medal. Going into the first-person view might help.
With the Minisub latched, fly to the test site marked yellow on the map.
Drop the Minisub close to the redraft.
The Trackify app will immediately open and give you a general location of the item you are looking for.
Follow the red dot but descend as much as possible, moving forward and descending downward.
You are looking for a device seemingly buried into the sea floor. Position the Minisub directly above the device to pick it up.
With the device secured, ascend back to the surface as quickly as possible.
As soon as you reach the surface, switch to Michael so you can start hooking up the Minisub again.
With the Minisub secured, fly back to Sandy Shores Airfield.
While flying back to Sandy Shores Airfield, Merryweather Agents will try and shoot down the Cargobob to retrieve the stolen item.
Switch to Franklin and fire away at the Merryweather vehicles to blow them up. The heavy machine gun will make quick work of the choppers and dinghies.
You must blow up the Merryweather agents as quickly as possible to complete the Show No Mercenary and the Weathering The Storm Gold Medal Objectives.
With the Merryweather agents dealt with, fly back to Sandy Shores Airfield.
Drop the Minisub in the designated area.
Skip the cutscene to save more time.
Bit Off More Than He Can Chew
Despite Trevor’s Intermittent Explosive Disorder, he still knows better than to mess with the government and the military on a large scale.
Keeping the super weapon and selling it to the Chinese might net Trevor and the crew an easy payday, but there will not be a corner on Earth they can hide in when the entire US government puts Trevor, Michael, Franklin, and everyone they know on their kill list.
Getting all four Gold Medal Objectives in a single run is easily doable in this mission. The Time Objective is tricky, but you can save a few minutes by skipping all the cutscenes in this mission.
Just follow the general direction of the signal on the Trackify app to find the device in two minutes. Spam the onboard machine gun to deal with all the Merryweather agents quickly.