Grand Isle
Island · Grand Isle, Louisiana
Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island — seven miles of sand, camps on stilts and fishing boats at the end of a two-hour drive south from New Orleans through marsh that gets progressively more like water. It is a fishing town first, a birding destination second and a beach third, and it is the state's only real Gulf beach. On 29 August 2021 Hurricane Ida made landfall directly on it and damaged or destroyed essentially every structure on the island. Recovery has been partial and this row says so, because a description written from before that date would be fiction.
Louisiana Highway 1, Grand Isle, Louisiana, 70358, United States
The island and its public beach are open year round and free; Grand Isle State Park charges a small Louisiana state park vehicle fee. THERE ARE NO LIFEGUARDS ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME. Highway 1 is the only road on and off the island. SERVICES, ACCOMMODATION AND FACILITIES REMAIN LIMITED AND UNEVEN following Hurricane Ida's direct landfall in August 2021 — verify what is open before making the two-hour drive. Hurricane season runs June to November and peaks in August and September.