Whiterocks Beach, Portrush

Whiterocks is where the Causeway Coast swaps black basalt for chalk: a run of brilliant white limestone cliffs, arches, caves and sea stacks stretching east from Portrush towards Dunluce Castle. From the clifftop car park you can be airborne in a minute, and the contrast of white rock, turquoise water and golden sand is as close to the Mediterranean as UK drone footage gets. Work the coastline eastwards for the arches and stacks, or pull back west for Portrush, the Skerries islets and, on a clear day, Donegal. It's a council beach with no landowner drama, but it earns its popularity — summer afternoons bring surf schools, horse riders and swimmers, so a sub-250g drone and an early start make life much easier. Wind is the main gotcha: northerlies pile straight onshore, while southerlies come over the cliff edge and produce sink and rotor just where you want to fly; offshore days can also drag a lightweight drone seaward faster than you expect. Dunluce Castle is a state-care monument, so admire it from a respectful distance over the water rather than TOALing inside its grounds.