Between noisy Portrush, with its caravans, fun fairs and slot machines, and the more sedate holiday town of Ballycastle lies the sleepier combination of sand, sea and scenery that makes up White Park Bay.

This National Trust-run property on the Antrim coast has everything: white chalk cliffs (from where the bay gets its name), grassy dunes (perfect for rolling down) and foaming waves on clear water (it's a surfers' paradise) - all on a mile-long crescent of golden sand. Two rugged headlands stand like majestic bookends on either side of the bay.

To the west, the tiny hamlet of Portbraddan pokes up prettily between the bay and the Giants' Causeway. Look out to sea, and on a fine day you can spot Rathlin Island and sometimes the Mull of Kintyre.

White Park Bay is worth the trek. On sunny summer's evenings it's virtually deserted - a couple stretch out on the sand while a family paddle their way along the shore towards the caves.

Flint instruments and pottery from Neolithic times were found in these crevices in the 1930s, as was a small female clay figure, the first of its kind to be found in Ireland, known as "Mother Goddess". The area is well known by fossil hunters, and you are as likely to bump into geography students as you are tourists on this stretch of coast.

While in the area, you could also venture to the nearby town of Bushmills to enjoy a sip of the locally-made whiskey, or take your chances at the slot machines in Portrush.

But watching the waves roll into this tranquil haven, feeling the silky sand between your toes, it's hard to get worked up about the prospect of any other activity.