The island of Calypso celebrates every year the day of San Salvador. The festivities include choosing a queen among the women. This year a lovely young woman named Maria Margarita, "la Bella" ("the Beautiful") is crowned. She has an older sister, named Margarita Luisa, "la Grande". The two sisters are unhappy. La Grande mourns Ernesto Lopez, her fiance who drowned at sea last year. La Belle has to say goodbye to the teacher, Mariano Gonzalez, who has won her heart and is now leaving the island for good. Fate strikes, when La Grande goes to the seashore in a desperate try to feel closer to Ernesto, when she sees a floating body in the water. La Grande saves him and drags him ashore. The man is Simon Vargas, who will now be known as "the Castaway" and the new bow of La Grande.