Jeep Beach party returns to Daytona's Hard Rock Hotel

DAYTONA BEACH  —  As an armada of fully decked-out Jeeps assembled early on Wednesday on the sands behind the Hard Rock Hotel, it offered ample evidence of the self-expression at the heart of the appeal of both the brand and the annual Jeep Beach celebration at the World’s Most Famous Beach.

It was the opening day of “Jeeps At the Rock,” an outdoor Jeep Beach celebration at the hotel that features a surf school, games, vendors, prize raffles, drink specials, a pool party and, of course, all those tricked-out Jeeps. The two-day beach party continues Thursday at the hotel.

From eye-catching custom paint jobs to rows of oversized audio speakers and the ever-present duck mascots that have become the brand’s universal goodwill ambassadors, each vehicle reflected its owner’s personality.

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For Jeep owner Blake Jacobs, the enormous plastic duck atop his 2022 Gladiator Rubicon, sporting a patriotic stars-and-stripes color scheme, threatened to steal the attention from the vehicle itself.

“I saw that duck online and I said, ‘I have to have it,’” said Jacobs, 32, a long-haul trucker from Charlotte, North Carolina.  A stars-and-stripes flag shaded in deep blues was flying from the back of the vehicle, a gesture of support for police and firefighters.

“I was a fire-fighter for 10 years and I know a bunch of cops,” Jacobs said. “I want to show my support.”

Attending his second Jeep Beach, Jacobs also embraces the Jeep culture, a tight-knit community that stretches beyond geographic boundaries, he said.

“It’s a worldwide thing,” he said. “We’re down here with friends from Kansas that we met online through a Jeep group. Once you have a Jeep you’re in it forever.”

'Not just a vehicle, it's a lifestyle'

Nearby, Shelley Kervel, 49, of Cape Coral, also arrived in a Jeep that represents more than transportation.

Her lime-green 2016 Jeep JKU had been transformed into a camping outpost, complete with fold-out shower and bathroom attachment on one side, a retractable awning on the other and two comfy-looking hammocks affixed to the tailgate.

“It’s fully set-up for camping,” said Kervel, an HR administrator. “I can self-sustain inside my Jeep for a week without any power other than what my Jeep produces.”

For Kervel, the custom touches go beyond creature comforts. Adorned with rainbow flag insignias and an inflatable rainbow on the roof, the Jeep also was a vehicle of diversity advocacy.

“Times are very difficult right now and visibility is very important,” Kervel said. “If I can do that through a vehicle, it’s a way to make people smile, to let them know they are safe. It's not just a vehicle, it's a lifestyle.”

For vendors selling an assortment of high-end accessories behind the Hard Rock pool deck, the weeklong Jeep Beach offers a valuable opportunity to connect with potential customers, said Steve Scofield, Texas-based sales manager for custom equipment company Rebel Off Road.

“It’s a chance to show off the products you build, to get people excited about the things they want to do to their Jeeps,” Scofield said.

Jeep Beach combines events with community focus

Incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity in 2017, Jeep Beach Inc. over the past decade has raised a total of more than $3.8 million to support recipients that include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia & Flagler Counties, the NASCAR Foundation and the Childhood Cancer Foundation.

This year’s event rolls ahead with an assortment of popular events.

On Friday and Saturday, the focus turns to the Jeep Beach “Main Event,” a two-day outdoor festival on the infield at Daytona International Speedway that features vendors and an obstacle course that pits vehicles against a gauntlet of dirt and concrete.

This year, the Speedway event also features a new wrinkle: a closing Saturday concert by pop star Colbie Caillat.

On Sunday, the annual closing-day Jeep Beach Parade illustrates the event’s community-oriented mindset. Jeeps will start cruising the beach early for the annual “Jeep Beach Sweep” to pick up and dispose of trash to leave the beach better than they found it.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jeep Beach 2023: Jeeps At the Rock hits Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach