An independent ocean-diver, U.S. Navy veteran Steve Kent (Jeff Chandler), with headquarters in Macoa, is hired by Vivian Craig (Evelyn Keyes), who agrees to bail him out of jail and save his small sloop from being returned to a mortgage-holding banker if he, in return,will dive for some sunken gold. He does so, and also falls in love with Vivian, despite the fact she is married to a double-crossing Allan Craig (Philip Friend). He also discovers the gold bars are $200,000 worth of smuggled gold. A sloop loaded with firecrackers, to conceal the precious cargo of gold and a big-bank explosion are only a part of Kent's problems.