Plenty of sponges are for sale along the harbour in Symi town. The last remnants of the shipbuilding trade are seen around the corner from the main harbour, on the road that leads to the tiny, rocky town beach.

Villages and beaches are scattered around the island. The monastery of Moni taxiarchis Michail Panormitis is in Panormitis Bay, in the far south. Most sight seeing boats from Rhodes bring visitors to the monastery first, and some ferry services stop at the cluster of houses here. It is not a particularly old monastery, dating back only to the eighteenth century, with many later additions.

There is a small museum and a church, and most notably an icon of the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Symi and of marines.