Portknockie still retains many of the features and the charm of its fishing heritage days. It is a conservation area with some 1, 217 (2001 census) residents living in 530 houses. The old part of the village is around the harbour and features traditional, single storey housing in north-south rows. In late Victorian times increased prosperity from the fishing led to the construction of larger houses with dormer windows and lofts for storing nets. These houses often have outside stone steps leading to the lofts. Council-built houses were introduced after world war two on the eastern side of the village and, more recently, there has been an expansion of private bungalows to the south and west.

The "Portknockie Experience" is an interesting walk that visitors can take around the conservation area of the village assisted by a locally produced guide. In the 1920’s Portknockie had over 48 shops and business premises but today, it is essentially a residential community. Most of the commercial life of the village is around the Square, which contains a signpost to local features and along Church Street its main thoroughfare. Here can be found the Victoria Hotel, the Seafield Inn, a chemist shop and the local fish & chips shop. In Church Street there is a Costcutter food store with a Post Office and a general store that also sells sweets, newspapers and magazines. There are four hairdressers in the village, a taxi booking point and a garage at the end of the harbour road. To the east of the village are yards for local builders and joiners and a MOT Testing Centre. Portknockie has a lot to offer to visitors. It is a place to stop for spectacular views over the Moray Firth and its busy traffic of fishing boats, oil/gas rigs and passing bottle-nosed dolphins.

The signature feature along the cliff tops is the famous Bow Fiddle Rock, a wave-cut natural arch, which provides a dramatic roosting place for gulls and cormorants. There are pleasant cliff walks to the adjoining villages of Cullen and Findochty and the coastal heath on the cliffs offers frequent sightings of larks, yellowhammers, stone chats and other bird life. South of Portknockie the Bin Hill rises to 320 m and offers a commanding view point for the Moray coastline. The Aberdeen and Inverness cycle path passes through the village and down the length of the old railway line closed in 1968.

The harbour has moorings for small boats, which can enter and leave, at any state of the tides and it has a paddling pool for youngsters. The road above the harbour still acts, as it did in the old days, as a focal point for the older residents of Portknockie to walk, to discuss the weather and to exchange news. Church Street is the location of the Millenium Garden with seating and picnic facilities. The village primary school, which dates from 1876, is on the main road and it contains a busy playgroup run by a local committee. Nearby, there is also a park with children’s swings, tennis courts, a bowls green, and a caravan park. There is a Church of Scotland kirk in the main street and a number of meeting halls for the Church of Christ and The Brethren. There is a cliff top cemetery, shared with Findochty, to the west of the town.

The town is well served by the 305 that connects the village to Elgin and Inverness and Aberdeen, 308 not running now, 500, the Strathspey Stroller, is a summer Saturday & Sunday service to the Cairngorms. Local groups meet regularly in church halls and the village hall for fund raising events, such as coffee mornings for local charities. Visitors are always made welcome. Visitors to Portknockie can get information in the shops and from the Local Heritage Point at the Library in Park Street. This is open mid-morning to mid-afternoon each week day in the season and it is the starting place for the "Portknockie Experience". Portknockie, along with nearby Cullen and Deskford is part of a local Heritage Group which documents the traditions and practices of this area lest they be forgotten. It holds a very popular annual exhibition of its researches each year in neighbouring Cullen.

Four times a year The K’nocker, Portknockie’s village newspaper is published and widely distributed. A village Gala is held in the summer normally in July. Portknockie has an elected Community Council of ten residents, which meets each month in the Library to manage local affairs. It also organizes the annual Best-kept Garden competition, which is judged at the beginning of August. There is a strong floral character in the village with a number of attractive gardens and flower displays. There is an active Amenities Group to run the annual Gala, a Community Association and many other village groups that regularly organize fund-raising events to benefit local residents. Portknockie is best kept large village WINNER in Moray for 2002, 2003 and 2004.