The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) traces its evolutionary past and was first domesticated in the Americas. Potential introduction of the crop by human action is supported by evidence of prehistoric interactions between South Americans and Polynesians, but a non-human mediated introduction has not yet been fully explored. Here we use laboratory and numerical experiments to evaluate the feasibility of oceanic drift as the introduction mechanism. Simulated drift trajectories starting in South America were used to determine the range of potential voyages in the Eastern Pacific. Results were used to inform experiments aimed at determining the effects of exposure to seawater on seed and seed capsule buoyancy and viability. Minimum simulated trip duration for arrival in Polynesia range from about 80 to 120 days. Viability of seeds from several different sources decreases but is not eliminated after 120 days of exposure to sea water. None of the tested seed capsules remained afloat after 40 days, indicating that while colonization by drift is possible, it would require some transport mechanism, such as vegetation mats. While landfalls occurred over a large area, they were concentrated on a NW to SE swath of the Pacific, extending from Rapa Nui to islands in Kiribati, including the Marquesas and Tuamotu archipelagoes. Drifts departing from the segment of the S. American coast between approximately 18S to 8S have a larger probability of making landfall. The main conclusions from the drift experiments are not impacted by changes in ocean and atmosphere circulation associated with glacial to interglacial climate variability.