Back Story

Jeeps are cool. Cruising through the Philippines country side, exploring the real Philippines, fresh air, open doors, no tourists, with a sweet sound system is even cooler.

The Philippines has a culture of Jeeps, Jeepneys, Owner Type Jeeps and Tikya Jeeps. They are made in backyard shops and machine shops, and a lot of time they use surplus or recycled parts.  Reusing, reworking and giving new life to these materials is a massive plus. The engine, for example, is a surplus (professionally rebuilt) motor from Japan.

The Jeep is part of Philippines Culture!

We found these cool guys from Nueva Ecija with a Jeep Club. They’ve built more than 20 of these Jeeps, and they have a very active Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/toyjeepclub/

A few emails later, our Mainland Adventure Jeep was being built.

We are all 6’+ big guys, so they made it a little bigger, and gave us some extra room. They suggested a kick ass stereo system, which was music to Barry’s ears. He loves his tunes. Good suggestion 🙂

Six weeks later, and on time, our Jeep was ready for action in Boracay! Salamat!

The Mainland Adventures Custom Jeep

We’ve been having fun at the Base Camp with our Jeeps. Recently we starting having tours and guests at the Base Camp, and we’ve begun offering the Jeep for rentals.

The area from Caticlan to Buruanga has fantastic roads, just awesome views, and you get a feel of the real Philippines. It’s our favourite ride. Philippine Towns, fishing villages, rice fields, ocean views, mountains, waterfalls.. It’s all there.

The roads have very little traffic, and cruises are at a slow leisurely pace. It can’t be done any better than in a self-drive, convertible open air, lowered Jeep.  It’s just an awesome way to get out and Explore More.

Rent it!

At first, just like the Base Camp, we wanted to keep it as our private weekend retreat from our work weeks in Boracay. Earlier this year we opened up the Base Camp for Mainland Adventures, and as they say, something shared is even better. Plus we get to support tourism to “off Boracay” communities, which is one of our goals with Mainland Adventures project. (and if we can pay for maintenance and costs, we can get more Jeeps 😛 )

The Price

We wanted to keep everything reasonable. The Jeep is available for rent for P 3,000 per day, with half price at P 1,500 for Mainland Adventures guests.  Refill the tank before you bring it back to Base Camp please.

The Fine Print

We’d like to remain completely accident free, and we want to make sure the local community appreciates tourists cruising in their communities.

Basic rules are:

1. Have a driver’s license for anyone that is going to take the wheel. We take a photo of this before you depart.

2. Drive slow. The Jeep isn’t a racer, and it handles a little differently than a car.

3. No drinking and driving. Fairly straight forward.

4. The Jeep has basic registration and insurance; however you are responsible for damages. Help us continue our zero accident safety record please!

5. Please have the Jeep back to Base Camp before 5:00pm.

6. Have fun. Be respectful of local community and go slow, especially through the residential areas.

More than 2 people?

We have some motorbikes that are also available. Make a cruise convoy, explore, and switch up your drivers. Having the Jeep for gear and tunes is an awesome addition to an exploratory mission. We do this as well, and we call it “Mad Max”
(Small motorbikes P 600, Big Motorbikes P 800 / day)

Get Lost:

I’m only half kidding.  Really there is just one main road, so you can just cruise until it’s time to start heading home. The road from Caticlan to south of Buruanga is new and there is relatively little traffic compared to the Caticlan to Kalibo route.  Head over to Malay town (The capital of Malay municipality, of which Boracay is a part of), and then head south towards Buruanga town.  The ride is beautiful. Before you leave, we’ll give you a cell number to call in case of emergency. Protip: Download the Google My Track app to both record your trip, and to make sure you can get back to the Base Camp on time.

How to book:

If you are booking the http://www.mainlandadventures.com/ tour, just add a note that you want to rent the Jeep and we’ll have it ready for you.

Extra Footage:

Here are some pics from the Jeep under construction