The town of Ceduna was proclaimed in June 1901 and was known as Murat Bay. A year later work began on a jetty. It was a screw pile jetty because of the rocky sea bed. Its final length was 368 metres, and remains that today. Initially trade was conducted by ketches and other small vessels of the mosquito fleet. West Coast Shipping Company was founded about 1906 and in addition to a fleet of ketches introduced its steamship Wookata to the west coast trade. Later MV Yandra operating as part of Coast Steamships Company, plied the west coast ports. With its refrigerated storage it was an important link in the export of fresh fish for Adelaide and interstate markets.

However, in 1920 jetty and berthing facilities were opened at nearby Thevenard, providing deeper water and more imprtantly a railway link with the rest of the Peninsula. When bulk handling facilities were built at Thevenard in the early 1960s, the demise of Ceduna as the main port for the far west coast was assured. The last vessel to visit was Yalata in 1966.

Instead oyster farming has thrived in the clear waters of the adjacent bays and is an important business in the region.