The beach at Ballycastle in Co Antrim has been named the best in the north in a new list published by the Sunday Times.
The newspaper has named its choices for the UK’s 50 Best Beaches list, and has highlighted four located in the north, with Ballycastle as regional winner.
They describe Ballycastle as somewhere that “feels like a made-up resort” due to its beauty and amenities.
“There’s a river running across a beach of flat sands; the best chippy on the coast (Morton’s on the harbour); kayaking; guided wild swimming; boat trips to Rathlin Island just offshore; and a new high-speed passenger ferry to Islay and Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, which is visible from the beach,” the publication states.
It adds Ballycastle is famous for its ice cream and yellowman candy, which is associated with the annual Ould Lammas Fair, that takes place next month.
Meanwhile, the list also names Co Antrim’s White Park Bay as another of the north’s best coastal areas.
The location’s beauty is compared to “Australia, South Africa or somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway”, and the list states the walk from the beach to Ballintoy harbour is “one of the world’s great coastal strolls”.
Co Derry’s Benone Beach, overlooked by the famous Mussenden Temple, is the third Northern Irish beach in the list, while the fourth is Murlough in Co Down.
The list rates the water quality on all of the local beaches as “excellent”, except for White Park Bay, which was not rated.
The list states of all locations on the list: “The 50 beaches described in this guide, though, offer excellence in far more than water quality. They are the best we have: blessed with outstanding natural beauty, superb infrastructure and loved by those who live, work and play there.”
