'Diamond Divers': Modern Day Pirates Hunt For Buried Treasure Under The Sea

Your just sitting on couch, shooting the breeze with your best friend, when the phone rings and the adventure of a lifetime is on the other end.

That's exactly what happened to Marty House, 28, and Sam Simpson, 34. The two commercial divers based in Houston, Texas met in diving school and became fast friends. Now, they were being offered the opportunity of a lifetime, journey to South Africa and represent Panda Marine Mining and Exploration Ltd. in the search for an untouched jackpot of diamonds buried deep in the crevasses of the ocean floor in an area thought to be the original mouth of the Groen River.

It was an offer they couldn't refuse: a few weeks in Africa and a chance to walk away with riches beyond their wildest dreams. The only problem was, they'd be prospecting in a place known around the world as The Skeleton Coast -- a place the Namibian bushmen referred to as, "The land God made in anger" and a region Portuguese sailors once termed "The Gates of Hell."

Seriously, what could go wrong?

Not only would they be contending with 50-foot waves and man-eating sharks, but ruthless poachers looking to illegally take over the Americans' private claim. Making matters worse, while the poachers could be armed, the Americans could carry nothing but flares -- part of a prohibition of firearms on mining claims.

"One night we were staying in this little hovel that we were all crammed into on dry land," says Simpson. "Marty and I were just sitting on the porch drinking beers as usual and there's this really nice beemer parked out there with eight or ten dudes loading this frickin' beemer's trunk to the brim with equipment. We're just sitting there watching under the porch light, and they could see us if they wanted to, but they just didn't give a f--k. There was definitely a guy in charge and all his little minions were loading the truck. I don't know what happened, but this one little guy was in the back seat trying to load something and the big guy grabs him, throws him on the ground and just starts stomping on him."

The incident was an up close and personal introduction to the cold and punishing brutality of South African poachers; something Sam and Marty never wanted to get in front of, but did on numerous occasions during the expedition.

"Nobody flinched," says Simpson. "They were also just scurrying around loading the trunk, while this guy is getting stomped on right in front of us and then this guy gets up and continues to load the trunk, as if nothing ever happened."

With so many legitimate threats to their lives, including shoddy equipment, at least they could take comfort in the fact that they were working with an American crew and that the captain of the boat, John Aydelotte, a master mariner, boat builder, salvage master, welder, mechanic and diver with 35 years of experience, ran his own rescue operation saving boats in distress. Surely, he would have their back, right?

"I'm not a big fan of Captain John or his son," says House. "Right when we first got there, he was already bossing us around like he owned us. He's not a team player, per se. He grew up with a silver spoon and I grew up with not many opportunities and I'm in the same spot beside him and I'd like to be treated equal."

Well, Aydelotte, a resident of Cornet Bay, WA, wasn't a fan of them either and called team building his greatest challenge on the expedition despite all of the other perils he could've listed.

"There's always a period with crew members where you establish a pecking order. I call it the 'Fanning Rooster Complex.' Everybody thinks they're in charge, but you have to understand there's only one captain. Sometimes what I needed was a fellow with a cat o' nine tails."

When asked if he would ever work with House and Simpson again, Aydelotte's answer was, "It may not be my choice." Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

The tension on the boat was so severe sometimes you could cut it with a knife and that's what nearly happened. Doc Slettevold, Aydelotte's best friend, actually pulled a knife on the crew's mechanic and first mate, J.R. Allen, after a heated argument between the two. Then there was the bar fight between House and Aydelotte's son, Jason, after House's drink spilled on the junior Aydelotte.

"It don't matter who you are," says Simpson. "You take six dudes and stick them together on a boat, spending 24 hours a day with each other, there's going to be some arguments and headbutting, but this was way beyond that. I was kind of embarrassed to share the trip with them."

The whole process was very Wild West with everyone kind of testing the waters -- both literally and figuratively. House and Simpson were way out of their comfort zone. They were more familiar with surface supplied diving, where the divers were attached to an umbilical hose that supplies oxygen from the boat.

Instead, they had to contend with scuba diving at 90 feet, which gave them only 20 minutes of air before they had to decompress. Plus, the diamonds had to be retrieved using a giant suction hose, but with the radio quality so piss poor, if anything was caught in the hose, the two divers were left stranded down there until their air ran out. All of this served to ratchet up the tension to an unbearable breaking point.

"Sam and I are putting our lives on the line everyday for this job and when you come out of the water and people aren't working as a team, it makes you pissed off instantly," says House.

"It's hard to work with people who don't care, when you're risking so much," agrees Simpson.

"We all took a chance going over there, but it was definitely our lives on the line and they're all just hanging out on the boat waiting for us to get the work done.They wanted this, they wanted that, but they weren't putting the effort in themselves, so it's just hard to be around that kind of attitude."

For Aydelotte's part, he says that House and Simpson "not fitting in," served to solidify the bonds between his crew even more. "With the two divers not fitting into the team, J.R. and I and Jason really teamed up together and became cohesive and showed those guys the way."

All three men say that despite their differences, and the overwhelming risks to their personal well-being, they'd all take the trip again in a heartbeat -- just may be not with the same people.

"I'd call it an adventure," says Aydelotte. "Traveling to new places, seeing new things. I'm a motorcyclist and there's nothing I like more than riding my motorcycle across a new stretch of road. It's about new horizons, new people, new places and all the things that come with discovering new skillsets and joining up as a team to try and go after a huge reward."

Yeah, but did they strike it rich?

"You're going to have to watch the show, I can't let that one out of the closet," says Simpson. "That ruins Christmas."

Follow Marty, Sam, Captain John and the rest of the crew as they literally attempt to bring back buried treasure on the series premiere of 'Diamond Divers' Wednesday, June 20th at 10/9c on Spike TV.