The name probably derives from a combination of the old Norse forms: góðr (good) and vik (bay or cove) giving góðrvik.

[3] The southeast facing hillside of Goodwick is sheltered from prevailing and salty SW winds and therefore naturally well tree-covered compared with the exposed headland above and the wet land of the bay.

Goodwick Sands, the local beach, is where the defeated French invasion force assembled prior to their unconditional surrender on 24 February 1797.

The harbour was constructed by blasting 1.6 million tonnes of rock from the hillside to make a 1,000 yards (910 m) long breakwater.

The developers Conygar who hope to invest £100 million into the project have submitted plans to Pembrokeshire County Council for a 450 berth marina, 253 new residential flats and a 19-acre platform for the potential expansion of the existing Stena Line port.

The scheme would also create a publicly accessible promenade and waterfront, and visitor parking as well as workshops, stores and ancillary facilities.

Conygar have also exchanged contracts to acquire an eleven-acre site for a lorry stop and distribution park on the perimeter of the Stena Line owned port.

A map dating from 1891 shows the area as being moorland, with very few buildings;[11] Kelly's Directory for 1895 does not mention the Stop-and-Call[12] There are two tiers of local government covering Goodwick, at community (town) and county level: Fishguard and Goodwick Town Council and Pembrokeshire County Council.

In 2024, the MS Stena Nordica RoPax ferry has two sailings each way per day, one around lunch time and one in the early hours of the morning.

The high-speed catamaran ferry Stena Lynx III (renamed Elite Jet in 2023) operated in the summer only until the end of the 2011 season.

Her schedule, for instance in the 2010 season consisted of a morning departure to Rosslare and a late afternoon arrival into Fishguard Harbour.

The first successful flight from Britain to Ireland was made from Goodwick's Harbour Village on 22 April 1912 by Denys Corbett Wilson, flying a Bleriot XI.