You know that feeling when you finally unlock a new area in an open-world game and it just clicks? That’s Paradise Sands. Honestly, if you're playing Lego City Undercover, this is usually the spot where you stop worrying about the main story and start actually having fun with the sandbox. It's basically the Lego version of Miami Beach, complete with neon lights, a massive luxury hotel, and enough palm trees to make you forget you're playing a game originally designed for the Wii U.
Paradise Sands isn't just a transition zone. It’s a vibe.
When Chase McCain rolls into this district, the music shifts. It gets synth-heavy and relaxed. Most players remember it for the towering VIB Hotel—which stands for Very Important Bricks, naturally—but there’s a lot more beneath the surface. From the observatory heights to the boardwalk, this district serves as a masterclass in how TT Games used to build compact, dense environments before every game felt the need to be a thousand square miles of nothing.
The Layout of Paradise Sands Lego City Undercover
It’s a coastal strip. You’ve got the ocean on one side and the towering cliffs leading up to the Observatory on the other. It feels expensive. It’s the kind of place where you’d expect to see a Lego version of a celebrity, and usually, you do.
The central landmark is the VIB Hotel. It’s huge. You can’t miss it. It features a massive pool area, glass elevators that actually work (sort of), and a helipad on top. If you’re hunting for Gold Bricks, you’re going to spend about three hours just climbing this one building. The developers packed it with color-swapping puzzles and astronaut teleporters. It’s dense.
Right next to it, you have the beach itself. The sand is littered with those classic Lego umbrellas and chairs. There’s a lifeguard tower that inevitably has a collectible on top. Then there's the boardwalk. It's lined with shops and small attractions. It connects the luxury of the hotel to the more industrial side of the city near the bridge.
The geography is actually quite clever. Because it's a long, narrow strip, the game forces you to see everything. You can't just bypass it. You have to drive through the neon-lit tunnels or take the high road by the cliffs.
Why Everyone Gets Stuck on the Collectibles
If you’re a completionist, Paradise Sands is your nightmare and your playground.
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The district has 26 Gold Bricks. That's a lot for such a small footprint. Most people struggle because they forget how vertical the map is. You see a brick icon on your radar, you stand on the spot, and nothing is there. Look up. It’s always up. Or it’s hidden in a coffee shop that requires the Rex Fury character to open a high-security crate.
Speaking of Rex Fury, you basically can’t 100% this area until the very end of the game. It’s a tease. You see the silver statues and the heavy crates early on, but you can’t touch them.
- The Character Tokens: There are 16 character tokens hidden here. Some are easy, like the "Beach Boy" found near the water. Others require the Fireman disguise to put out specific BBQs or the Construction worker to fix fuse boxes.
- The Vehicles: You can unlock the "Enzo" (a sleek sports car) and the "Squirt" here. The Enzo is one of the fastest cars in the game, fitting the high-end aesthetic of the district.
- Red Bricks: The "Data Scan Upgrade" is the big prize here. It makes finding other hidden items way easier.
The "Super Build" in this area is also a classic: the "Loop-de-Loop." It costs 40,000 Super Bricks. If you don't have the "Super Drill" or the "Super Ax," you’re going to be grinding for a while. Once it’s built, you can drive cars through a literal 360-degree loop on the beach. It’s pointless. It’s glorious.
The Observatory and the High Ground
The Herbert Hotel isn't the only high point. If you take the winding road up the hill, you hit the Observatory. This is where the game shows off its draw distance. From the balcony, you can see all the way across to the Statue of Liberty (Lego-fied, of course) and the downtown skyscrapers.
There’s a specific parkour challenge here. It involves a lot of blue-and-white Lego poles and wall-jumping. If you miss a jump, you fall all the way back down to the beach road. It’s frustrating. It’s classic Lego gameplay.
A lot of players miss the cat that needs rescuing on the cliffside. You need the Farmer disguise for that. You have to use the chicken to glide across a gap that looks impossible. Pro tip: Don't let go of the glide button too early. I’ve seen people do that and just plummet into the ocean. Chase McCain can swim, but it’s a long walk back up.
The VIB Hotel Secrets
Let's talk about the VIB Hotel again because it's the heart of the district.
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Inside the lobby, there’s a fountain. If you destroy the surrounding decor, you can rebuild it into something that gives you a stud multiplier or a brick. But the real meat is on the roof. Getting to the roof requires the Astronaut disguise. You use the teleporter at the base, then navigate a series of fans and ledges.
Once you’re at the top, there’s a pig. Yes, a pig. You have to find it, "mount" it, and then use the Pig Cannon to fire it back to the farm. It’s one of the weirdest recurring mechanics in the game, but Paradise Sands has one of the best-hidden ones.
The hotel also houses the "Disguise Booth" for the area. It’s tucked around the side near the parking garage. If you’re trying to change your loadout, that’s where you go.
Realism and Satire in Paradise Sands
Lego City Undercover is essentially "Grand Theft Auto for kids," but the satire is actually pretty sharp. Paradise Sands is a parody of the hollow luxury of places like Santa Monica or South Beach.
The NPCs here have hilarious dialogue. If you stand still and listen, you’ll hear them complaining about their "organic, gluten-free Lego studs" or their spray tans. It adds a layer of depth that most Lego games—which are usually tied to movie franchises like Star Wars or Marvel—lack. Since this was an original IP for TT Games, they had the freedom to be a bit weirder.
The "Don't Walk" signs and the way the traffic AI behaves in this district are also subtly different. Because the roads are wider, the cars go faster. It’s the best place in the game to test out the high-end sports cars you unlock later. If you grab the "Justice" or the "Rex's Riot," you can actually get some decent drift time on the long curves of Paradise Sands.
Technical Nuance: Wii U vs. The Remaster
There’s a big difference in how Paradise Sands looks depending on what you’re playing on.
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On the original Wii U version, this area was notorious for frame rate drops. All those neon lights and the water reflections were taxing on the hardware. When the game was ported to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, things got a lot smoother.
The loading screens are the biggest change. In the 2013 original, driving from Paradise Sands to the next district usually triggered a massive loading bar on the GamePad. In the 2017 remaster, it’s seamless. This makes the "Police Chase" missions in this area much more enjoyable because you don't lose your momentum.
If you’re playing on the Switch, you might still see some "pop-in" where the palm trees appear out of nowhere. It's a trade-off for the portability. Honestly, playing this game in handheld mode while sitting at an actual beach is a weirdly meta experience I highly recommend.
Common Misconceptions About 100% Completion
Many players think they’ve finished Paradise Sands because they got the "District Conquered" message. They haven't.
That message usually just means you’ve activated the District Map station. To actually finish the area, you have to:
- Complete the "Free Run" (the parkour race).
- Win the "Vehicle Robbery" mission.
- Smash all the "ATM" machines.
- Capture the "Gang" (hidden in an alleyway near the boardwalk).
- Paint all the yellow flowers.
The flowers are the hardest. There are usually 5 or 6 of them, and one is always hidden behind a dumpster or on a balcony you can only reach with the jetpack. If you’re stuck at 98% for the district, it’s almost certainly a flower or a silver statue you forgot to blow up with the Miner's dynamite.
Actionable Tips for Navigating Paradise Sands
If you're jumping back into the game or playing for the first time, keep these specific strategies in mind:
- Prioritize the Super Build: Build the "Loop-de-Loop" early. Not because it’s useful, but because it rewards you with a massive amount of studs that help you buy the "Stud x2" or "Stud x4" Red Bricks sooner.
- The Teleporter Shortcut: There is a teleporter behind the VIB Hotel that takes you straight to the roof. Use this instead of trying to parkour up the side every time you miss a collectible.
- Use the Heliport: There’s a helipad on top of the hotel. If you have the Astronaut disguise, you can spawn a helicopter here. This is the fastest way to get to the Observatory or the Blackwell Bridge without dealing with traffic.
- Check the Water: Don't just stay on the sand. There are several studs and a few hidden crates underwater near the pier. Chase can't dive deep, but he can reach these easily.
- The Coffee Shop Secret: There’s a small cafe on the boardwalk. If you break everything inside, you’ll find a hidden valve. Turning it doesn't give you a brick immediately, but it starts a sequence that leads to one.
Paradise Sands is the soul of Lego City Undercover. It’s the area that proves the game is more than just a collection of movie parodies. It’s a well-designed, vibrant world that rewards you for poking into every corner.
To finish your run in Paradise Sands, head to the VIB Hotel parking lot and spawn the fastest car you have. Take the long road toward the bridge at sunset. It's the best view in the game. Make sure you've unlocked the "Rex Fury" character first, as his strength is required for the final crates near the tunnel entrance. Once those are cleared, you can officially call this district done and move on to the more industrial sections of the city.