Diego Miruelo, was an

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

who explored

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

's west coast in 1516. He may have been the first European to sail into

Pensacola Bay Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle. The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola ...

."The Spanish Presence in Northwest Florida--1513 to 1705" (history),

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...

, 2006, webpage
UWF-hist
. In 1516, he arrived to Florida from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

with one vesselDe Leon, Ponce. A Gistory of Florida
Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, 2005. and explored the west coast of the peninsula, reaching the

Apalachee Bay Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin ...

, named after his trip Miruelo bay. In Florida, he exchanged a few things of glass and steel for gold and silver collected by the Amerindians from the remains of wrecks in Florida. Toscano, Nicolas
La Florida y el suroeste americano
(in Spanish: Florida and the American Southwest). Page 34. So, he mapped Pensacola Bay.
After that, he returned to Cuba. Due to failing to take note in the course of latitudes traveled for him and not remember them, he was unable to show the way to Florida on a second trip and he went insane.

References

{{Reflist Spanish explorers Explorers of Spanish Florida