Talacre Beach & Point of Ayr

Talacre delivers one of North Wales's most photographed subjects, the abandoned Point of Ayr lighthouse standing alone on the sand, and on a good tide it is a lovely, easy flight from the Station Road car park. The beach is broad, the dunes are handsome, and at sunrise the light wraps around the lighthouse beautifully with the Dee estuary and the Wirral beyond. Airspace is unrestricted here; the nearest controlled zone (Hawarden) is some twenty-five kilometres away. The big responsibility is wildlife. The tip of the point is an RSPB reserve, and the Gronant dunes just to the east hold Wales's only little-tern colony, which nests on the ground from roughly May to August. You must keep well clear of the dunes and the reserve in that season; disturbing nesting terns is both illegal and genuinely damaging. Keep to the open beach, gain height promptly, and do not fly along the dune line. Other honest notes: it is a popular, busy beach, the soft dunes make launch spots awkward, and there is a gas terminal to the south you will want to stay clear of. Low tide at sunrise, out of the tern season, is the sweet spot.