Eastern Pacific High Sea

West of the Californian coast lies a broad reach of the eastern Pacific, crossed by the cool southward flow of the California Current. Returning Manila galleons approached the American coast after following a northern route across the ocean, then sailed south toward Acapulco. The route developed after Andrés de Urdaneta's voyage in 1565 and remained in use for more than two centuries. Landfall on this coast marked the end of a long ocean crossing, though the journey south was still to come.