Holly Beach — The Cajun Riviera

Holly Beach has been hit by hurricanes again and again. Hurricane Audrey smashed ashore in 1957 with a twelve-foot surge. Rita in 2005 brought ten to fifteen feet, devastating the area. Gustav and Ike reflooded it in 2008. Laura passed through in 2020. After Audrey, several houses were modified so they were taller. The cabins along this stretch were called "camps," and they were built-to-be-rebuilt by residents who understood the threat. By 2006, you had to sign a waiver to live here because the sewer system wasn't functioning. Portable toilets appeared on the roadsides. New structures had to comply with post-Rita building codes. It was feared that the strict codes and high insurance costs would keep the original locals from returning, that the southern part of Cameron Parish would end up with trailer housing indefinitely. Several permanent structures were built anyway. This is the Cajun Riviera—an unincorporated community in Cameron Parish, part of the Lake Charles metropolitan area, with no boardwalk, no hotels, and no admission fee. You can drive on the beach. People come for crabbing, shell hunting, swimming, and bonfires. Services are minimal. Bring everything you need. The cultural importance of Holly Beach—at one time a social and musical hub for vacationing Cajuns—is documented in at least two classic Cajun French songs: Nathan Abshire's "La Valse de Holly Beach" and Lawrence Walker's "Laisse les Bons Temps Rouler," which includes the lyric "I found you in the big marshes / And I brought you to Holly Beach / The mosquitoes are biting / But let the good times roll." Kenny Tibbs and The Jokers recorded a swamp pop parody on Jin Records explaining that Cajun vacationers "ain't got no boardwalk, just got seaweed, but we always pass a real good time at Holly Beach." Holly Beach sits ten miles west of Cameron and twelve miles east of Johnson Bayou. It's part of the Creole Nature Trail loop. The beach is open, the Gulf is there, and people keep coming back.