Well, Steve's old setup had 4 18's using only 6 4" aero ports. That's only 75in of port area. He said he really didn't have any port noise.
With that being said, I would think you can use 1 8" aero port (50in of port area) for 1 18" sub and get away with it, especially if you only have a 6-7cuft box...?