The Phoenicians were certainly capable of navigation around the horn of Africa and possibly farther. They ventured into the Atlantic Ocean passed Gibraltar, possibly as far as the Canary islands. There are texts that describe a large island with civilized people and villas which may or may not be the Americas.

Here are the translated writings of Diodorus of Sicily, describing what the Phoenicians may have discovered.

DIODORUS OF SICILY tr. C.H. Oldfather, Harvard University Press (Loeb), Cambridge Ma. 1968. Written about 56 B.C.

BOOK V chapters 19-20 {in Volume 3 of the Loeb series}

[p. 145} 19. But now that we have discussed what relates to the islands which lie within the Pillars of Hercules, we shall give an account of those which are in the ocean. For there lies out in the deep off Libya (Africa) an island of considerable size, and situated as it is in the ocean it is distant from Libya a voyage of a number of days to the west. Its land is fruitful,

{p. 147} much of it being mountainous and not a little being a level plain of surpassing beauty. Through it flow navigable rivers which are used for irrigation, and the island contains many parks planted with trees of every variety and gardens in great multitudes which are traversed by streams of sweet water; on it also are private villas of costly construction, and throughout the gardens banqueting houses have been constructed in a setting of flowers, and in them the inhabitants pass their time during the summer season, since the land supplies in abundance everything which contributes to enjoyment and luxury. The mountainous part of the island is covered with dense thickets of great extent and with fruit-trees of every variety, and, inviting men to life among the mountains, it has cozy glens and springs in great number. In a word, this island is well supplied with springs of sweet water which not only makes the use of it enjoyable for those who pass their life there but also contribute to the health and vigour of their bodies. There is also excellent hunting of every manner of beast and wild animal, and the inhabitants, being well supplied with this game at their feasts, lack of nothing which pertains to luxury and extravagance; for in fact the sea which washes the shore of the island contains a multitude of fish, since the character of the ocean is such that it abounds throughout its extent with fish of every variety. And, speaking generally, the climate of this island is so altogether mild that it produces in abundance the fruits of the trees and the other seasonal fruits for the larger part of the year, so that it would appear that the island, because of its exceptional felicity, were a dwelling-place of a race of gods and not of men.

{p. 149} 20. In ancient times this island remained undiscovered because of its distance from the entire inhabited world, but it was discovered at a later period for the following reason. The Phoenicians, who from ancient times on made voyages continually for purposes of trade, planted many colonies throughout Libya and not a few as well in the western parts of Europe. And since their ventures turned out according to their expectations, they amassed great wealth and essayed to voyage beyond the Pillars of Heracles into the sea which men call the ocean.

The Phoenicians had the technology for ocean travel outside the Mediterranean Sea well before 600 BC. Whether they made it to the Americas is pure speculation, as there is no hard evidence of a Phoenician landing or occupation site. But, as with the Vikings, it was pure speculation that they landed in the Americas until the discovery of L' Anse aux Meadows.