 Not recognizing the Monterey Bay from the description written by Sebastián Vizcaíno almost 200 years prior, the expedition traveled beyond it to what is now the San Francisco, California area.The exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà, arrived on November 2, 1769, at San Francisco Bay., One of the greatest ports on the west coast of America had finally been discovered by land.The expedition returned to San Diego on January 24, 1770.