IMAGINE if you had the chance to dive down to a shipwreck with Bermuda's legendary diver Teddy Tucker and author Peter Benchley ? and you were to find hidden treasure . . .

It's an experience that those who attend a glitzy charity dinner at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) will get the chance to bid for.

The dive will be one of several prizes on offer at a silent auction (with written rather than spoken bids) at the May 8 dinner.

All funds raised will go towards the BUEI's educational endowment programme.

The event is a late celebration of the 25th anniversary of the 1977 movie , which was largely filmed in Bermuda. Filmed largely on location in Bermuda in 1976, the action-adventure film went on to become the second highest grossing movie of 1977 behind the original .

The BUEI event was originally planned for May last year, but was postponed due to "unforeseen circumstances".

BUEI director Alan Paris said he hoped some of the personalities involved in making the film would be able to attend.

"We do hope to have some of the celebrities here ? including at least one of the stars ? but it's too early to say who will be able to attend," said Mr. Paris. "These people have busy schedules."

Last year's event was to be something of a reunion, with actress Jacqueline Bissett, director Peter Yates and writer Mr. Benchley set to attend. Attempts were also made to bring Nick Nolte.

One star of the film who will definitely be attending is a large and vicious mechanical moray eel.

"Guests will come to the BUEI and as they go down to the lower restaurant, they will enter a themed area," Mr. Paris said.

"The moray eel will be there as the centrepiece of a themed grotto. It should be a lot of fun."

He added that the dive with Mr. Tucker and Mr. Benchley would take place at the wreck of the , the inspiration for the wreck in the story of .

Another star prize was a trip in a private jet to view Bermuda from the air.

And Mr. Paris said memorabilia from the film would also be auctioned off, including some of the ampoules that were at the centre of the story.was Mr. Benchley's first book after the phenomenally successful and was a number one best seller.

Mr. Benchley is an adviser to the BUEI and has enjoyed a long-standing friendship with Mr. Tucker and his wife Edna, to whom the novel is dedicated.

The story revolves around a couple vacationing in Bermuda ? Ms Bissett and two-time Oscar nominee Mr. Nolte ? who discover both 17th-century Spanish treasure and a cache of World War Two-era morphine ampoules on a dangerous reef that has become a graveyard for countless ships over the years.

The drugs attract the interest of Haitian criminal mastermind Henri Cloche (Louis Gossett, Jr.), who controls Bermuda's underworld through a combination of strong-arm tactics and Voodoo rituals designed to intimidate his adversaries.

The couple join forces with St. David's lighthouse keeper and treasure hunter Romer Treece (played by the late Robert Shaw) to confound Cloche's plans to plunder and market the heroin while salvaging the Spanish treasure trove.

British director Mr. Yates also made the classic Steve McQueen thriller , in which Ms Bissett also played a minor role.

l This week also saw the launch of the BUEI's upgraded web site,

One major enhancement is the meetings and events pages feature. This is designed to allow members of the business community and meetings planners to make a BUEI site visit without leaving their offices.

The feature includes 360-degree shots of meeting places with floor plans and potential seating configurations.

Education pages have also been enhanced for youngsters.