Reputed playboy Peter Merriman inherits a company that harvests shells and pearls in the Coral Sea. He decides to visit the operations, arriving around the same time that the company's manager, Ted King, discovers a body out in the ocean. When King brings the body back, it sets off an investigation into the possibiilty of people-smuggling in the area, and the local police appeal to King for help.
Merriman arrives and a mutual attraction develops between him and King's daughter, Rusty. Some tension develops between Merriman and King, however, when the new boss shows them the modern diving equipment he wants to use in order to streamline the operation and save lives. King is later convinced when the equipment saves his own life. When the people-smugglers learn that King is on their trail, they take Rusty hostage, but King, his assistant Jack, and Merriman follow, using Merriman's aqualungs, rescue her, and capture the villains before the police arrive.
