The Blue Lagoon centers on two cousins, Dicky and Emmeline Lestrange, who are marooned with a galley cook on an island in the South Pacific following a shipwreck. The galley cook, Paddy Button, assumes responsibility for the children and teaches them how to survive. Two-and-a-half years after the shipwreck, Paddy died following a drinking binge. The children survive on their resourcefulness and the bounty of their remote paradise. They live in a hut and spend their days fishing, swimming, diving for pearls and exploring the island. As the years pass, Dicky and Emmeline grow into physically mature young adults and begin to fall in love. As they deal with their newfound emotions, Dicky's father Arthur believes the two are still alive and he is determined to find them.