- Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadro (1743-1794)
- Traveled north from Mexico to Norfolk Sound, identified Mount Edgecumbe, and entered Bucareli Bay on the west side of Prince of Wales Island, in the Alaskan Panhandle (1779)
- Juan Sebastian Cano (c1476-1526)
- First sea captain to circumnavigate the world, having completed Ferdinand Magellan’s trip (1521-1522)
- Francisco de Coronado (c1500-1554)
- Explored what are now the southern US states, finding the Grand Canyon and introducing the horse to the indigenous people (1540)
- Hernando Cortez (1485-1547)
- Explored Mexico (1518)
- Discovered Baja (Lower) California (1536)
- Hernando De Soto (1496-1542)
- Explored the Yucatan Peninsula (1528)
- Explored Florida, Georgia, and the Mississippi River (1539)
- Juan Fernández (1536-1604)
- Explored the islands off the coast of Chile that now bear his name (1563)
- Pedro Fernandez de Quirós (1565-1614)
- Took part in the discovery of the Marquesas Islands and the island of Espíritu Santo in the New Hebrides
- Juan de Grijalva (????-1527)
- Traveled from Cuba to the island of Cozumel (off the Yucatan), then explored around the Yucatan Peninsula and along the coast of Tabasco to the Gulf Coast of Mexico
- Juan José Hernández Pérez (c1725-1775)
- Explored the west coast of North America as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands and discovered Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island (1774)
- Don Bruno Hezeta (c1750-????)
- Traveled north along the west coast of North America as far as the 49th parallel, then discovered the mouth of the Columbia River on the way back (1775)
- Leo Africanus (c1485-c1554)
- Traveled to Timbuktu, Lake Chad, and Egypt (1512-1514)
- Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (c1475-c1519)
- First European to sight the Pacific Ocean (1513)
- Diego de Ordaz (c1480-1532)
- Explored the Orinoco and Meta Rivers (1531)
- Francisco de Orellana (1511-1546)
- First person known to have navigated the full length of the Amazon River from the Napo River to the Atlantic Ocean (1541-1543)
- Francisco Pizarro (c1475-1541)
- Explored the northwest coast of South America (1526-1527)
- Conquered Peru (1531)
- Juan Ponce de Leon (1460-1521)
- First American to reach Florida (1513)
- Francisco de Ulloa (????-1540)
- Explored the Gulf of California and the coasts of Baja California, establishing the latter as a peninsula (1539-1540)
