Doubloon or quits for divers at the Hook

Minted doubloons. That's the quarry for a group of divers who will participate in the third annual National Underwater Treasure Hunt off Hook Head, Co Wexford, this Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.

The "valuable" coins will be hidden on the day by divers from the Hook Head Sub Aqua Club, and some 70 treasure-hunters will then be briefed at the club's dive centre. They will be given all day to search, in teams of between two and four, but must give an undertaking that there will be absolutely no sub-sea "villainy".

The location is historic in its own right. It is near the site of the wreck, Arthur, which foundered with a cargo of ivory and silver, and is also close to where a gang of mutineers murdered the captain and crew of the brig Earl of Sandwick in December 1765. They buried most of the cargo of gold dollars in a sandy cove nearby.

If none of the treasure-hunters is successful, there is some consolation. Anglo Irish Bank and the Hookless Holiday Home and Leisure Centre have put up a prize fund of £1,000, and commemorative medallions have been struck. Safety cover will be provided by the Hook Head Sub Aqua Club dive boats and by the Fethard RNLI inshore lifeboat.

The following day, Sunday, August 27th, there will be free diving at many of the coastal and offshore sites, and information will be given at the Slade centre.

The new centre was opened in June this year, and 80 per cent of the funding was raised solely by club members. For more information on the treasure hunt, which has an entry fee of £89 that includes two nights' self-catering or bed-and-breakfast accommodation, dinner and use of facilities, contact Hook Tourism at 051-397502 or Hook Head Sub Aqua Club at 051388302. e-mail addresses are: hookinfo@iol.ie and snmurray@iol.ie