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Formally known as "Aukwatowa" (in Nama, the local dialect, this means "Where the water took the old man away"), Port Nolloth was virtually uninhabited until the start of it's service as port to the copper mines of the interior.

The Khoi Khoi people, the white boere and the "Basters" (a group of mixed descent who were absorbed by both groups) were the only known people in the area, surviving on a precarious farming existence.

Today, small boats rock gently in the Port Nolloth harbor, where old railway tracks bear testament to copper that was exported from here long ago. The trains no longer run and the tracks are falling into disrepair, but Port Nolloth has turned to new industries. It remains a bustling seaside town with the distinct seafaring, frontier atmosphere so typical of places on the Namaqualand coast.

As with nearby Alexanderbay, the discovery of diamonds here in the 1920's proved a huge infusion to local economy. This is the only coast in the world, where gem quality diamonds can be manually dredged from the sea bed by divers. These men then, and the fortunes they made or lost, make for a significant part of recent the history of this town.

As much of the coast here is forbidden mining territory, Port Nolloth remains one of the few places where people can walk on the beach and swim in the icy water.