Ice occurs in the bay from the end of November to the middle of June.

[2] It was named after Russian hydrographer, admiral Alexey Nagaev.

[3] Between 1852 and 1869, American whaleships anchored in Nagayeva Bay to obtain wood and water and boil oil.

[7] During the Gulag era, the bay was used as a transit point for Gulag inmates coming by sea and further directed to camps of Magadan and Kolyma to man the Dalstroy works.

Varlam Shalamov mentioned the bay as part of the Gulag industry in his memoirs About Kolyma Nagaev Bay is part of the refrain of Vladimir Vysotsky's song I Went to Magadan (Я уехал в Магадан) The arrival of prison ships is the subject of Smokey Bastard's single 'Archipelago'.