Set in the 1930's, based on the short story by Ernest Hemingway about a loner and a wealthy businessman. Greed gets the better of the two unlikely partners as they set off on an adventure to recover a treasure from a sunken yacht off the coast of the Bahamas.

As the world enters the economic turmoil of the 1930s, American expatriate Arno had left behind his career on Wall Street for a simple life in the Bahamas where he frequently scavanges junk to sell. When former sweetheart, Coquina returns to the island, she and Arno get reacquainted and their romance blossoms. Arno is hired to run a special errand for Mrs. Gavotte, the wife of a Chicago gangster, whose yacht has anchored in a nearby bay. A storm ravages the island, and Arno discovers that the ship has sunk and with it, all its reported hidden riches. Seduced by the treasure awaiting him at the bottom of the ocean, Arno forges an uneasy alliance with unscrupulous Frenchman Jean-Pierre and his wife Janine to recover the submerged wealth. Coquina also reluctantly agrees to help Arno.

With Jean-Pierre's boat and his equipment, the four begin the difficult task of picking the shipwreck clean. Their greed sharpens as Arno emerges from the first few dives with bags of precious jewels, and temptation beings pulling the quartet apart. Jean-Pierre propositions Coquina with an opportunity to increase her share of the loot, and Janine approaches Arno. The stakes rise to treacherous heights when Arno makes the final dive for the ship's stash of gold.