It was opened by the then Premier of South Australia, Steele Hall in 1970, and led to the closure of many of the smaller ports on the peninsula.

Port Giles can handle Panamax size ships or larger.

[4] Port Giles was purposely built to be able to handle bulk grain, and load it onto larger modern ships.

Many of the other ports were not deep enough for larger ships, and could only be serviced by small ketches and coastal steamships.

The port is occasionally open for keen anglers to catch fish from the jetty, which provides habitat for multiple species.