Don's Boat Landing has been known as the Gateway to the Gulf because it's located at the entry way of the Boston Canal. The Boston Canal travels south to the Vermilion Bay which leads to the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Don and Nelius Dugas opened Don's in the early 1960's and from the stories we hear it was one amazing place.
Fishing and hunting a huge way of life to the community in Louisiana. We have many commercial shrimp boats that fuel up at Don's. There are also many duck, deer and wild game (hog & alligator) hunters that use our facility to dock their boats and fuel up at Don's.
We are also very happy to offer lunch and an after work beverage to the sugar cane farmers and marine construction company's such as Broussard Brothers.
The Boston and Hebert Canal have camps that some people call their second home because they spend so much time at them.
Through the years there have been many devastating storms that have hit the area but it was Hurricane Rita in 2006 that made Mr. Don & Mrs. Nelius make the decision to retire. After the storm, the community came together to help them clean up. Gary and Shannon were part of the clean up crew along with many others.
Not long after cleaning up the Dugas's sold the boat landing to Anthony "Tony" and Norma Romero, they rebuild and reopened as soon as possible trying to continue the legacy. Tony and Norma expanded the grocery store and made many improvements including expanding the boat ramp with concrete. Years later Hurricane Ike hit and once again the community came out to help clean up and rebuild the boat landing. Gary and Shannon Howell spend almost a month helping Tony and Norma clean up and rebuild. After they rebuilt we used to joke around with Tony and Norma about buying the place one day. Next thing you know, in June of 2017 here we are the proud new owners of a piece of history.
What makes this place so special is the community and the customers. The best thing in the world is to see the young and the old in one place, smiling, laughing and dancing together. Once the word got out that there were new owners, we get visitors that haven't been hear in years. It's great to sit back and listen to the stories from customers that came here as children in the 1960's.
Gary and Shannon Howell met in Stuart, FL and were married in 1990. They moved back and forth from Louisiana to Florida for a while until deciding to call Erath their home in 2003. If you've ever lived in Erath you will understand that there is no other place like it. The community is truly one big family and if there is ever anyone in need of support for any reason, everyone comes together to help in any way possible. It's a great place to raise a family with some of the best schools in the state.
Our future plans for Don's is to continue to give our customers the best experience we can. From great food & refreshing drinks to live entertainment that brings the everyone together to have a good time, we want Don's to continue to be a family fun place to sit back, relax and enjoy family and friends.