The 1988 lava flow off Gunung Api, where lava poured into the sea and coral recolonised the bare rock within a few years, now a…The 1988 lava flow off Gunung Api, where lava poured into the sea and coral recolonised the bare rock within a few years, now a dense table-coral garden growing straight down the flow line, one of the most studied natural experiments in reef recovery. At Pulau Hatta the wall drops clean away with schooling fusiliers, jacks and the occasional hammerhead in the blue. These few square miles were the only source of nutmeg on earth, and Europe fought over them for two centuries. The Dutch VOC killed or enslaved most of the population of Banda in 1621 to hold the monopoly, and in 1667 traded the island of Run to the English for Manhattan. The colonial town, the fort and the nutmeg groves are still there. Anchorage: Anchor off Banda Neira in the caldera channel, one of the great historic anchorages of the Indies, with Gunung Api directly overhead. Hazards: Gunung Api is an active volcano; the outer walls at Hatta are exposed and can run current. Altro