Winterton-on-Sea Dunes

Winterton is the thinking pilot's alternative to Horsey: the same sweeping dune coast and winter grey seal colony, but with a car park, a café and slightly fewer coaches. The shots are big and simple — endless marram-topped dunes, white rollers, the round Hermanus roofs behind the village, and in winter hundreds of seals hauled out along the tideline. That wildlife is exactly why this is a caution entry. Pupping runs November to January, when volunteer wardens rope off the beach and you should not overfly the colony at all — a drone panicking a mother seal can cost a pup its life, and it's a Wildlife and Countryside Act offence to recklessly disturb them. North of the beach entrance the dunes are Winterton Dunes NNR, with breeding little terns and natterjack toads in summer — treat it as a no-fly and work the beach south instead. Erosion has been chewing at the car park and access arrangements have shifted over recent years, so check before you travel. Outside seal season and clear of the NNR, this is a superb, legal, windswept flight.