Starfish Island

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

Starfish Island is a wealthy, gated island of mansions in the bay between the beach side and the mainland of Vice City. It appears in Vice City (2002) and Vice City Stories (2006). Its biggest house is Ricardo Diaz's mansion, which Tommy Vercetti takes over in 1986 and turns into the Vercetti Estate, his base for the rest of the game.

What is Starfish Island in GTA Vice City?

Starfish Island is an oval island in the middle of the bay that separates the beach side of Vice City from the mainland. GTA Wiki groups it with the smaller Prawn Island as the city's Ocean Bay area. It is the richest corner of the map: a gated estate of large villas with lawns, swimming pools, big garages and speedboats tied up at private jetties. A private security firm called Patrol Invest Group guards most of the homes.

What is Starfish Island based on?

According to GTA Wiki, the island draws on the man-made residential islands that sit in Biscayne Bay between Miami Beach and the Miami mainland, including the Venetian Islands, Palm Island, Hibiscus Island and Star Island. The wiki adds that the developers first meant to call it Star Island, after the real place, and that Tommy still uses that name in one line of dialogue during the mission Death Row.

When can you go to Starfish Island?

In Vice City the island is closed at first, like the rest of the mainland side. GTA Wiki says it opens after the mission Guardian Angels, when Ricardo Diaz invites Tommy over. Our Vice City page explains the hurricane warning that keeps the bridges shut early on. In Vice City Stories the order is reversed: the island is open from the very start, and GTA Wiki notes it is the only area besides the mainland that players can reach at that point.

What is the Vercetti Estate?

The largest property on the island belongs to the drug baron Ricardo Diaz until 1986. GTA Wiki describes it as the centre of his drug and protection business. In the mission Rub Out, Tommy Vercetti and Lance Vance storm the house and kill Diaz. Tommy moves in, and the mansion becomes his main safehouse under the new name Vercetti Estate. After the mission Cop Land it also counts as an asset that pays $5,000 a day, according to GTA Wiki.

The estate is packed with features. GTA Wiki lists a Maverick helicopter on the roof helipad, a hedge maze on the west side with a sniper rifle at one dead end, an upstairs office with a desk, a safe and security monitors, a basement weapons room, an indoor pool and a private dock. Its garage holds four vehicles. After 100% completion, three armed bodyguards can be hired from the living room. The look is a film reference. GTA Wiki says the interior copies Tony Montana's mansion from Scarface (1983), with a lobby that is almost a direct replica apart from the fountain and the single staircase. In the original releases the office monitors even show footage of the film's mansion. The Trilogy: Definitive Edition swaps this for views of in-game areas.

The estate is also where the story ends. Wikipedia explains that Tommy sets up a meeting at his mansion and plans to pay off his old boss with counterfeit money. The shootout that follows is covered on our Tommy Vercetti page, so we will not retell it here.

What do hidden packages unlock at the mansion?

Collecting hidden packages in Vice City delivers weapons and vehicles to the estate in steps of ten. GTA Wiki lists the rewards as follows:

Starfish Island in Vice City Stories (1984)

Vice City Stories returns to the island two years earlier, and Diaz is still the owner. GTA Wiki says the mansion is mid-renovation: the west wing is covered in scaffolding, there is a pond and trenches where the maze will be, and the garage is noticeably smaller. Diaz's missions for Victor Vance start on the grounds, and cutscenes show an extra office on the second floor.

What else is on Starfish Island?

The neighbouring villas hide useful pickups. In the 2002 game GTA Wiki places a flamethrower in a pool shaped like the Rockstar logo and a katana in the garage of the house next to the mansion. Among the listed residents is Jonathan Freeloader, a co-host on Vice City Public Radio. The wiki also mentions unused audio suggesting the island was once meant to be open only to residents and their guests.

Is Starfish Island in GTA 6?

Rockstar has not described Starfish Island as a place in GTA VI. What it has done is reference the estate: the Ultimate Edition text on the PlayStation Store describes a pair of revolvers with Vice City styling "sourced from the Vercetti Estate". That is a nod to Tommy's home, not a confirmed location. For the areas Rockstar has named, see our Vice City and Leonida pages.