• Rhodes Diagoras Airport is within a 120 minute(s) drive. Diagaoras Airport to the Mandraki Harbour 20 min. Daily boats to Symi at 09.00 a.m.
• Transit: can be reached by walking for 10 minute(s). Type of transit is Bus.
• Shopping and Dining: can be reached by walking for 10 minute(s).
• The unit is Ocean front. Beach gradient is gradual for a short distance. Beach surface is small pebbles. Symi is blessed with many, but not wide or sandy, beaches. Close to Yialos are two beaches: Nos, a 15m (50-ft.) -long rocky stretch, and Nimborios, a pebble beach.
A bus to Pedi followed by a short walk takes you to either St. Nikolaos beach, with shady trees and a good taverna, or St. Marina, a small beach with little shade but stunning turquoise waters and views of the islet St. Marina and its cute church. Beach Equipment: Rentals Nearby and Sailboat.
• Nearby Attractions: One local craft still practiced on Symi is shipbuilding. If you walk along the water toward Nos beach, you'll probably see boats under construction or repair. It's a treat to watch the men fashion planed boards into a graceful boat. Symi was a boat-building center in the days of the Peloponnesian War, when spirited sea battles were waged off its shores.
Sponge fishing is almost a dead industry in Greece. Only a generation ago, 2,000 divers worked waters around the island; today only a handful undertake this dangerous work, and most do so in the waters around Italy and Africa. Working at depths of 50m to 60m (164 ft.-197 ft.) (in the old days often without any apparatus), many divers were crippled or killed by the turbulent sea and too-rapid depressurization. The few sponges that are still harvested around Symi -- and many more imported from Asia or Florida -- are sold at shops along the port. Even if they're not from Symi's waters, they make inexpensive and lightweight gifts.
source:frommer's guide
The Monastery of the Archangel Michael Panormitis is a Greek Orthodox monastery built on the southwest coast in the early 18th century. It overlooks a bay, and is still inhabited by monks. * The "Knight's Castle" overlooks the main town of Symi. It was built by the Knights of St. John as an expansion of a Byzantine castle on the same site, many parts of which are still visible. There are also remnants of an ancient citadel on which the two later castles were built. * There are 2 monuments at the main port that date back to the Classical era. * The town of Symi alone has 13 major churches and dozens of chapels, some dating back to the Byzantine era. * The northern port of Emborios (also called Nimborio) has surviving ancient Pelasgian walls and a set of 12 domes remaining from workshops used by artists.
