Chandeleur Island/Chandeleur Sound

The Chandeleur Islands are a chain of uninhabited barrier islands located 50 miles east of New Orleans and 35 miles south of Gulfport, Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Islands were formed over 4,000 years ago and discovered by explorer Pierre Le Moyer D'Iberville around 1700 while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. He named the Islands after a Christian feast day – La Fete de la Chandeleur – in honor of the event. The Islands are best described as a crescent-shaped archipelago. President Theodore Roosevelt was so impressed with the Islands that he designated them the second national wildlife refuge, and today most of the Chandeleur Islands including Curlew, Gosier and Breton Island are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge.

Contact: St. Bernard Office of Tourism & Film, ktommaseo@sbpg.net