No, he definitely reached Central and South America. But even until his death he had insisted he had reached the East Indies.

I think I recall that his grants from the Spanish crown (and part of his fame) were tied to him having made it to the East Indies. So there would have been motivation for him to stick with his stories.

Ah, according to Wikipedia, he only reached the continent on his third and fourth voyage. On his first two expeditions, he was only cruising around the Bahamas, Cuba, etc.