In Messina, a seaside town in Sicily, Italy, water is a constant companion and a way of life. But for the thousands of migrants who arrive from Africa and the Middle East by boat, the sea is a perilous means to an end and a villain who has taken lives right before their eyes. To help newly arrived young migrants from Messina’s Nautical Institute adapt to their new seaside home, Giuseppi Pinci and his team teach them to swim, scuba dive and, hopefully, fall in love with the water they once feared.