Sandy Shores

Updated 30 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Sandy Shores is a run-down desert town on the southern shore of the Alamo Sea in Blaine County, in Grand Theft Auto V (2013) and GTA Online. It is Trevor Philips's home base, with his trailer and the Sandy Shores Airfield. GTA Wiki says it is modelled on towns around California's Salton Sea, mainly Desert Shores, Bombay Beach and Salton City.

Where is Sandy Shores in GTA V?

Sandy Shores sits on the northern edge of the Grand Senora Desert in Blaine County, the countryside of Grand Theft Auto V. Senora National Park lies to one side and the southern shore of the Alamo Sea to the other, and across the water you can see Mount Chiliad. GTA Wiki calls it one of the most remote towns in the state. It is hot, dusty and full of coyotes. The game came out on 17 September 2013, and the town has been part of GTA Online since that mode began.

The welcome sign gives a population of 3,010 with the word "formerly" next to it, and GTA Wiki says the town's motto is "We Have Liquor". Those two jokes sum the place up: drained pools, empty lots, closed motels and a boarded-up marina.

What is Sandy Shores based on?

GTA Wiki says Sandy Shores is drawn straight from the small towns around the Salton Sea in Southern California, mainly Desert Shores, Bombay Beach and Salton City. It quotes Rockstar North's Aaron Garbut saying the team went to the Salton Sea and Bombay Beach while building Trevor's part of the map. Niland, Joshua Tree and the Antelope Valley are other influences, and Niland and Joshua Tree turn up as street names. During development the town had working names such as "Seaton Sands", which the wiki thinks may nod to a beach in Scotland near Rockstar North.

Who lives in Sandy Shores?

The best-known resident is Trevor Philips, whose trailer is on Zancudo Avenue. His company, Trevor Philips Enterprises, runs a drug lab upstairs from a liquor store in town. His friends Ron Jakowski and Wade Hebert live here too. GTA Wiki also lists Michael De Santa and Patricia Madrazo as short-term residents during the story, and Johnny Klebitz of The Lost MC as a former one. Wikipedia describes Trevor living in squalor in rural Blaine County and trying to take over its black markets; Sandy Shores is where that plan starts. Our page on Trevor covers his story in full.

What is the Sandy Shores Airfield?

The airfield lies south-west of town on Panorama Drive, out in the desert. GTA Wiki describes three runways, a one-plane hangar, a helipad and a small control tower. At the start of the game it belongs to The Lost MC; Trevor takes it from them in the mission Nervous Ron and keeps it as his private airstrip. Several later missions use it. In the build-up to the Merryweather job a Cargobob drops a submersible there, and after the raid on Humane Labs a Cargobob brings Michael and FIB agent Dave Norton back to it.

The airfield also matters at the end of The Paleto Score: GTA Wiki says the crew splits the bank money that night in Sandy Shores, and the FIB takes most of it.

What landmarks are in Sandy Shores?

Apart from the airfield, GTA Wiki lists a sheriff's station, a medical centre, a fire station, an Ammu-Nation and a 24/7 store, plus the Blaine County Radio tower in the middle of town. Along the shore are the closed-up Alamo Sea Marina and a beach recreation area behind the levee. South of town, over the railway, is Beam Me Up, a painted art site that echoes Salvation Mountain. In the 2025 enhanced version of the game the wind blows sand and dust across the roads, which is easiest to see at night.

Is there a UFO in Sandy Shores?

Yes, but only after the story is finished. Higgypop's 2017 guide to the Mount Chiliad mystery says that once the story mode is complete a UFO hovers over the Beam Me Up art at any time of day. GTA Wiki adds that a red eye and a rain cloud are painted at the site, matching symbols on the mountain. It is one of several sightings linked to the mural in the Chiliad tramway station.

Sandy Shores in GTA Online

GTA Online players can buy a home at 140 Zancudo Avenue. Wikipedia dates the Bikers update, which added motorcycle clubhouses, to 4 October 2016, and GTA Wiki says one of those clubhouses is at 47 Algonquin Boulevard in Sandy Shores. A facility east of Beam Me Up is also on sale through Maze Bank Foreclosures. The airfield cannot be bought, but the wiki lists it in many jobs, from The Prison Break to The Doomsday Heist and The Cayo Perico Heist.

One small nod to Rockstar's other open world: GTA Wiki says Cholla Springs Avenue and Armadillo Avenue are named after places in Red Dead Redemption.