Port William has several other bays on it, namely Gypsy Cove and Yorke Bay, which is a noted beauty spot, Hearnden Water, which is effectively the estuary of the Murrell River and Weir Creek, Blanco Bay and Sparrow Cove. Kidney Island is just north of Port William.
The peninsula on which Canopus Hill, Stanley Airport and Gypsy Cove lie, together with a narrow spit of land known as Navy Point, effectively divides Port William from Stanley Harbour. As such this is the busiest waterway of the Falkland Islands and frequently visited by cruise ships, freighters and navy vessels, although this has lessened since the building of the two airports at RAF Mount Pleasant and Stanley Airport.
It was enlarged as the result of glacial action.
It was heavily mined due to the Falklands War, however the last mine was removed in November 2020.
^Dom Pernety, Antoine-Joseph. Journal historique d'un voyage fait aux Iles Malouïnes en 1763 et 1764 pour les reconnoître et y former un établissement; et de deux Voyages au Détroit de Magellan, avec une Rélation sur les Patagons. Berlin: Etienne de Bourdeaux, 1769. 2 volumes, 704 pp. Online vol. 1 & vol. 2. Abridged English version.