Sebastián Vizcaíno
The mouth of the Carmel River was first seen by Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno shortly before he landed in Monterey Bay in December 1602. He wrote about visiting the river on January 3, 1603, but greatly exaggerated its proportions, confusing later explorers. Vizcaino named it Rio del Carmelo, likely because his voyage was accompanied by three Carmelite friars.