In the 1480s, King John II (João II) pushed Portugal’s Atlantic exploration farther down the African coast. The goal was strategic: find a sea route to reach Asian markets without relying on overland trade controlled by rival powers.
Before Dias sailed, Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão explored the southwest African coast and set up stone markers (padrões) to claim and record discoveries. On his second voyage (1485–1486), Cão reached Cape Cross in present-day Namibia, creating a known “last point” for later expeditions to pass.
King John II chose Bartolomeu Dias to lead a closely held expedition to push beyond Cão’s farthest point and look for the southern end of Africa. This decision linked earlier coastal exploration to a new objective: rounding Africa to reach the Indian Ocean.
Dias left Lisbon in August 1487 with a small fleet designed for exploration and endurance. His departure marked Portugal’s most determined attempt yet to break past the unknown southern waters of Africa.
Sailing south along the Atlantic coast, Dias passed the last markers associated with earlier voyages, moving into waters that had not been charted by Europeans. By early December 1487, the expedition reached and recorded anchorages along the Namibian coast, including Walvis Bay.
After January 6, 1488, severe storms prevented safe coastal sailing. Dias chose to run south out of sight of land for several days, a risky decision that would prove decisive for rounding Africa’s southern tip.
On February 3, 1488, Dias sighted land at Angra de São Brás (Bay of St. Blaise, today associated with Mossel Bay). Because land appeared only after turning north, Dias realized he had already rounded the southern end of Africa—without seeing the cape itself.
After the first landfall beyond the cape, the expedition continued east along the southern coast. Dias reached Angra da Roca (present-day Algoa Bay), collecting information that strengthened Portugal’s understanding of the coastline leading toward the Indian Ocean.
Dias pushed on to Rio do Infante (identified with the Great Fish River), the farthest point of the voyage. With supplies strained and conditions difficult, Dias formally recorded his officers’ views; they unanimously favored returning, and Dias turned back soon afterward.
During the westward return, Dias finally saw the prominent headland he had unknowingly rounded earlier. Later tradition links the name “Cape of Storms” to this moment and says King John II preferred the more hopeful name “Cape of Good Hope,” reflecting the new route’s promise.
Dias arrived back in Portugal in December 1488 after roughly sixteen months away. His voyage showed that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were connected by sailing around southern Africa, reshaping Portugal’s plans for long-distance trade and exploration.
Dias’s expedition used stone markers (padrões) and recorded coastal points that later historians and archaeologists could identify. One of his markers, Padrão de São Gregório, was recovered in 1938 from False Island, showing how the voyage’s route was physically documented as well as written down.
Bartolomeu Dias' voyage rounding the Cape of Good Hope (1487–1488)