Portballintrae and Salmon Rock Beach

Portballintrae is a sheltered little bay and harbour village tucked between Portrush and the Giant's Causeway, and it offers a rare piece of non-National Trust coastline in the heart of Causeway country. The village harbour and the adjacent Salmon Rock (Bushfoot) beach are Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council amenities with public parking, so you can launch legally here without straying onto Trust land. From the air you get the crescent bay with its slipway and cottages, the rocky outcrops and rock pools, the Bush river mouth and the dune-and-links backdrop of Bushfoot; push a little north and the coastline toward Runkerry opens up. The crucial line to hold is eastward: the dunes, Runkerry and everything approaching the Giant's Causeway are National Trust, where TOAL is banned, so keep your take-off and operations firmly on the village and Salmon Rock side. It is a moderate-crowd spot, popular with families and dog walkers but rarely as heaving as Portrush, so an early or off-season slot keeps you clear of people. Whiterocks and Portrush lie about 4km west, so this is a genuinely distinct scene. No FRZ is close. Winds are gentler than the open strands thanks to the sheltering headlands, making it a forgiving Causeway launch.