Ehm, warm water port is absolutely the correct term for it. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port
Also, a Texan with a bit of knowledge would absolutely call it a port, especially if they're talking about the Port of Houston, for example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Houston
I don't know where this guy is from, but maybe you should be slightly more cautious with your linguistic judgements.