Route data is compiled in chronological order from Wikipedia's voyage articles (CC BY-SA), cross-checked against primary source narratives and historical records. Waypoints mark approximate port, bay, and landfall locations — not survey-grade ship positions — and should be verified against detailed historical charts and logs before being treated as authoritative. Coordinates for remote stops and open-ocean legs are estimated and approximate.
First Voyage to India
1497–1499· São Gabriel, São Rafael, Berrio, supply caravelFind a direct sea route from Portugal to India by sailing around Africa.
Da Gama departed Lisbon on 8 July 1497. He executed a bold 'volta do mar' — a sweeping westward arc far into the South Atlantic to catch the trade winds — before rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Up the East African coast he secured the Arab navigator Aḥmad ibn Mājid at Malindi, who guided him across the Indian Ocean. Calicut (Kozhikode) was reached on 20 May 1498 — opening the permanent sea route between Europe and Asia. The Zamorin was unimpressed by da Gama's trade goods. On the return, scurvy killed a third of the crew and the São Rafael was burned for lack of men. Da Gama arrived back at Lisbon in September 1499.
⚠Accuracy: Outbound route via Atlantic loop from the anonymous Roteiro. East Africa and India waypoints well-confirmed. Return dates approximate.
Second Voyage — Armada of Retribution
1502–1503· 20 ships, ~800 menEstablish Portuguese dominance over the Indian Ocean trade and punish Calicut.
A heavily armed military expedition. Da Gama set up the first permanent Portuguese trading posts on the East African coast. At sea he intercepted the pilgrim ship Miri (~400 passengers) and burned it with all aboard. At Calicut he bombarded the city and mutilated captured fishermen. He supported the friendly ruler of Cochin against Calicut. The voyage returned a profit of 800%, cementing Portugal's Indian Ocean dominance.
⚠Accuracy: Massacre of the Miri attested in multiple Portuguese chronicles. East Africa and India waypoints from Gaspar Corrêa and João de Barros.
Third Voyage — Final Voyage, Viceroy of India
1524· 15 shipsServe as first Viceroy of India and reform the corruption-riddled Portuguese colonial administration.
After a 21-year absence, da Gama was appointed Viceroy and departed in April 1524. He arrived in Goa in September, dismissing corrupt officials, then proceeded to Cochin. His health collapsed; he died at Cochin on Christmas Eve, 1524. His body was returned to Portugal in 1539 and interred at the Jerónimos Monastery — where his fleet had received its blessing 27 years before.
⚠Accuracy: Waypoints confirmed from Gaspar Corrêa's Lendas da India. Da Gama's death at Cochin on 24 December 1524 confirmed by multiple contemporaries.