There are ruins of an ancient temple of Athena destroyed by a tsunami and facilities of the Kyriamadi Naval Station.

A checkpoint and barbed wire gate the road with a sign that the peninsula is under military jurisdiction.

The military base sits upon its north coast, with both an ancient and a modern jetty visible from the air.

Professional works on navigation recommend giving the cape a wide berth (a few miles).

"[3] Spitfire Rock found at 35°19′08″N 26°14′59″E / 35.3189°N 26.2497°E / 35.3189; 26.2497 is classified as a reef (yphalos, "under the sea") by the Hydrographic Service of the Greek Navy (HSGN).

[5] The name was assigned by Thomas Spratt in his 1852 survey of Crete aboard HMS Spitfire, under his command.

He was proceeding through the passage between Sideros and the Dionysades, he said, with what he thought was all due circumspection, but in the centre, when his guide, Captain Manias, sometime revolutionary and pirate, warned him to steer on the Dionysiades side to avoid the reef.

In commemoration of the event he named the rock after the ship, although he gives no further insight into his line of reasoning.