But for Allen, owning a fleet of yachts and an entire is- land is only part the story that revolves around his life-long passion for treasure hunting. In fact, he’s done way more than just “hunt” for treasure. He and his AllenX team have found countless priceless artifacts including gold and silver coins, jewelry, large silver bars, countless loose gemstones, weapons, pottery etc., that sank aboard the Spanish trea- sure ship Maravillas in 1656. As you might guess of a modern-day underwater explorer, Allen is a wonderful combination of realist, romantic, and history buff. He’s a realist when he talks about how hard, frustrating, and expensive recovering treasure that’s been strewn across countless miles of open ocean can be. “It’s like searching for a needle…in a desert…underwater,” he says. But he’s a romantic when he talks about the myth of the Maravillas that’s occupied his imagination since he was young. And he’s a total history buff when he starts talking about what life on board the ship must have been like in 1656. “It’s definitely been a childhood dream to be doing what I’m doing now,” he adds. “But Gigi and I started with our love of the Bahamas. We’ve helped out after the hurricanes hit and during the pandemic too. Finding and preserving these artifacts is way bigger than just Gigi and me,” he says. And Allen’s team is finding truly priceless items all the time like the flawless 20 carat emerald embedded in gold and surrounded by 12, two carat emeralds around a Knights of Santiago cross pictured here. But that’s only the beginning. “What’s it feel like to find something so beautiful, and priceless while diving in the Bahamas?” I ask. “I’ve found a half a dozen coins, a couple emeralds, pot- tery, and things like that. But, I never find the big stuff,” he says with a wonderful mix of humor and humility. “The beauty of AllenX is that it’s always a team effort. “But I was probably more excited than the team when they found that emerald broach the massive, solid gold chain on the same day,” he adds. “Andy had just dropped down into the water when he saw something shimmer out of the corner of his eye. It was a little piece of gold sticking out of the sand that ended up being the emerald broach. “His dive partner found the 2.2-pound solid-gold chain that was just sparkling in the sun on the bottom on the next dive! Can you imagine being out there in the middle of the ocean finding those amazing artifacts so close together?” he says with a smile. And now that Allen is considering making his entire fleet, use of Walker’s Cay, and the ability to dive on the site avail- able to a lucky few, you might actually get a once-in-a-life- time chance to live the superyacht life, fish for marlin and bonefish, and best of all…hunt for treasure too. He’s calling it the AllenXperience. More info: www.walkerscay.com
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