He participated in the discovery of the route to India by Vasco da Gama where he commanded Berrio, the first caravel to return; was captain of a ship in the fleet headed by Pedro Álvares Cabral who landed in Brazil.

He died at sea, possibly off the coast of Mozambique, while returning from India in the 5th Portuguese Armada with Francisco de Albuquerque.

He was also the first of Gama's armada to arrive in Lisbon, on 10 July 1499[1] where King Manuel I of Portugal bestowed to him a pension of 50,000 reis per year, 30,000 in interest for his lands and his descendants and a new coat of arms.

[citation needed] After landing in Brazil, the fleet resumed their voyage east on 3 May 1500, whereupon they were struck by a great storm near the Cape of Good Hope, losing 4 vessels.

Coelho left Portugal for a third time on 14 April 1503, as captain of the "Faial" with the armada of Afonso de Albuquerque, but died while returning home to Portugal in January 1504 along with Francisco de Albuquerque, Afonso's cousin, near the shallows of São Lázaro, modern-day Quirimbas Islands, Mozambique.