Dave the Diver Jungle Staff Guide: All 9 Unlocks (2026)

Nine staff members work Bancho Grill in Dave the Diver jungle staff terms, and every community source that's tracked them agrees on the same nine names. What's less consistent across jungle DLC guides is the unlock conditions and stats, so this breaks down each hire individually: what triggers their recruitment, what their base stats look like, and what skill makes them worth the counter space. The chapter walkthrough covers when these questlines open up relative to the story.

TL;DR: Nine confirmed staff: Yasuto, Martin Tweed, Rover, Om Nom, Charlie Bonnet III, William Longbottom, Mita, Udo, and Sato. Martin Tweed has the highest Cooking stat (60). Unlock conditions range from early sub missions (Yasuto, around Day 3-5) to Chapter 6 questlines (William Longbottom). Charlie Bonnet III's specific unlock trigger isn't independently confirmed by any source checked for this guide.

Dave the Diver jungle staff: how many can you hire? (quick answer)

Nine. The list is stable across every community source checked for this guide (gamerant, thegamer, games.gg, and several dedicated wikis): Yasuto, Martin Tweed, Rover, Om Nom, Charlie Bonnet III, William Longbottom, Mita, Udo, and Sato. Each has a distinct unlock mission, a stat block across Cooking, Serving, Procure, and Appeal, and a signature skill.

Key takeaways

• 9 confirmed staff, no source suggests a 10th
• Martin Tweed has the highest base Cooking stat (60) on the roster
• Unlock conditions range from Day 3-5 sub missions to a Chapter 6 questline
• Skills fall into a few categories: tip boosters (Resonance, Fantastic Melody), efficiency boosters (Bonk Hammer, Dispatch Master), and pest control (Flash, Intimidate)
• Charlie Bonnet III's unlock condition is the one gap in this guide: stats and skills are documented, the specific trigger isn't

Yasuto

Unlock: Tied to the UFO-seeking NPCs' storyline, specifically the "Traces of the UFO" sub mission. This one triggers early, roughly Day 3-5, making Yasuto the first staff hire most players see.

Yasuto's specific stat block and skill weren't itemized consistently across the sources checked for this guide. If you're optimizing hire order strictly by stats, treat Yasuto as the "free early hire" rather than a stat-driven pick, since he's essentially a byproduct of a mission you're doing anyway.

Martin Tweed

Unlock: Appears at the end of the "Traces of the UFO" sub mission, which kicks off the "Lake Purification" sub mission on Day 5. Martin joins the following morning after that completes.

Stats: 60 base Cooking, the highest on the entire roster. Community guides describe him flatly as the kitchen's top performer.

If your service is bottlenecking on cooking throughput rather than serving or tips, Martin is the fix. His recruitment is also nearly automatic since it chains directly off Yasuto's storyline, so there's little reason not to have him working within your first week.

Bancho anchors the kitchen in every Dave the Diver restaurant, but the jungle DLC's staff hires determine how much throughput the rest of the grill can sustain around him.

Rover

Unlock: The VIP mission "The Taste of Fish," triggered when Bonita shows up at Bancho Grill after closing hours. You then need to collect specific ingredients and serve the dish within 2 days of the trigger.

Stats: 10 Cooking / 17 Serving / 30 Procure / 65 Appeal.

Skill: Resonance, which increases how often and how large customer tips land. Level 5 unlocks Dispatch Master, pulling in more items through dispatch runs.

Rover's Appeal stat is the highest of any staff member documented in this guide's research, which pairs naturally with the tip-boosting Resonance skill. If your service revenue feels low despite decent throughput, Rover addresses the tip side specifically rather than the cooking or serving side.

GODEEPER: Bonita's VIP status also unlocks the Stir-fried Crocodile Tail recipe, one of Bancho Grill's showpiece dishes. Dave the Diver Bancho Grill Recipes: All Dishes Listed →

Om Nom

Unlock: A rope-slicing puzzle minigame where you deliver fruit to Om Nom directly.

Stats: 14 Cooking / 16 Serving / 22 Procure / 50 Appeal.

Skill: Master of Serving Jungle Drinks, specializing in prepping and serving coconuts and mango shakes, the same free-tier drinks every player starts with. Level 5 unlocks Intimidate, which scares monkeys away from the restaurant.

Om Nom's early unlock (a standalone minigame rather than a chained storyline) makes this one of the more approachable hires if you're specifically trying to round out your roster fast rather than chase story-gated staff.

Charlie Bonnet III

Unlock: Not confirmed. This is the one gap in an otherwise well-documented roster: no source checked for this guide surfaced Charlie's specific recruitment trigger. If you're actively chasing this hire, check your in-game mission log rather than assume a condition based on a pattern from other staff.

Stats: 10 Cooking / 21 Serving / 25 Procure / 58 Appeal.

Skill: Fantastic Melody, playing guitar to earn tips from nearby customers. Level 5 unlocks Serving Skewers, letting him serve (but not prepare) skewer dishes.

William Longbottom

Unlock: Tied to the Unihornus questline. Reach Chapter 6, find William near the swamp on the north side of Setah Forest, complete "Explorer in the Forest," then finish "Horn of Unihornus," which requires defeating a giant snakehead.

Stats: 10 Cooking / 8 Serving / 72 Procure / 40 Appeal.

Skill: Exploration Expert, bringing in ingredients through expeditions rather than requiring manual gathering. Level 5 unlocks Dispatch Master, the same efficiency skill Rover gets at max level.

William's Procure stat (72) is by far the highest of any staff member in this guide, and the Exploration Expert skill compounds that by automating ingredient sourcing. He's the latest story-gated hire on the list, though, so don't expect him early.

The jungle DLC's recruitable staff come from the same expedition-and-village cast you meet across the story chapters, each behind their own side mission.

Mita

Unlock: The "Chandra's Suspicion" sub mission, which requires completing Gesang's (Chandra's husband) prior missions first. This is a two-step unlock chain rather than a single trigger.

Stats: 22 Cooking / 15 Serving / 16 Procure / 45 Appeal.

Skill: Bonk Hammer, instantly finishing skewers without the normal cook time. Level 5 unlocks Serving Jungle Drinks, overlapping with part of Om Nom's specialty.

Udo

Unlock: The "A Giant Stag Beetle?" sub mission, which becomes available once your Insectagram (the in-game collection app) reaches 50% completion.

Stats: 16 Cooking / 22 Serving / 22 Procure / 35 Appeal.

Skill: Keepsake Photo, reducing customer stress. Level 5 unlocks Flash, scaring monkeys away, the same pest-control function Om Nom gets at max level.

Udo's unlock is progress-gated rather than mission-gated in the traditional sense: you need to be actively filling out the Insectagram, not just advancing the story. If you've been ignoring the collection systems, this is the hire that reminds you they matter.

Sato

Unlock: The "A Monster Snapping Turtle!" sub mission, which becomes available once you've filled 50 entries in the Marinca Bloom app.

Stats: Not fully itemized in the sources checked for this guide; only the Cooking stat gets a qualitative mention, without exact numbers.

Skill: Small Flame at Level 5, boosting dish output. His more notable trait is Ranged Serving, which lets him act as a third server across the dining area rather than being tied to a single station.

Sato's Ranged Serving skill is functionally different from anyone else on the roster. Every other staff member's skill boosts a stat or deters pests; Sato changes how service coverage works structurally, which matters more once you're running a full dining room during peak hours.

GODEEPER: Every dish your staff cooks and serves comes back to which fish you've actually caught. Dave the Diver Jungle Fish Guide: 50+ Species by Zone →

Common mistakes

Assuming stats alone tell you who to prioritize. Rover's high Appeal and Resonance skill matter less if your bottleneck is Cooking throughput, where Martin Tweed's 60 base stat is the actual fix. Diagnose your bottleneck first, then match the hire to it.

Ignoring the Insectagram and Marinca Bloom apps. Udo and Sato are both gated behind completion percentages in these collection systems, not story missions. If you're rushing the main questline and skipping side collection, you're delaying two hires without realizing it.

Expecting a 10th staff member. Every source checked for this guide agrees on 9. If your in-game roster shows something different, that's more likely a version discrepancy worth double-checking in-game than a gap in this list.

Trying to force Charlie Bonnet III's unlock from a guessed condition. Since his trigger isn't confirmed anywhere reliable, following a pattern borrowed from another staff member's unlock is more likely to waste time than help. Check your mission log directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many staff can you hire in the jungle DLC? Nine: Yasuto, Martin Tweed, Rover, Om Nom, Charlie Bonnet III, William Longbottom, Mita, Udo, and Sato. Consistent across every source checked for this guide.

Who has the highest Cooking stat? Martin Tweed, at 60 base Cooking, described as the kitchen's top performer. He unlocks shortly after Yasuto's storyline.

What does William Longbottom's Exploration Expert skill do? Brings in ingredients via expeditions automatically. His unlock requires reaching Chapter 6 and completing a two-part questline in Setah Forest, including a giant snakehead fight.

How do you unlock Udo? Complete "A Giant Stag Beetle?," available once your Insectagram app hits 50% completion. His Level 5 skill, Flash, scares off monkeys.

What's Rover's Resonance skill? Increases tip frequency and size. Unlocks through the VIP mission The Taste of Fish, triggered by Bonita and a 2-day dish-serving window.

Is Charlie Bonnet III's unlock condition confirmed? No. His stats and skills are well documented, but his specific unlock trigger wasn't confirmed by any source checked for this guide.

Related Reading

• Dave the Diver Bancho Grill Recipes: All Dishes Listed: every confirmed recipe and how the customer model ties into staff service.
• Dave the Diver Jungle Fish Guide: 50+ Species by Zone: the species your staff will be cooking, organized by where you catch them.
• Dave the Diver Jungle DLC Tips Guide: broader early-game priorities beyond staffing.

References

• DAVE THE DIVER on Steam: base game store page, 1868140
• DAVE THE DIVER: In the Jungle Content Pack on Steam: DLC store page, $9.99, launched June 18, 2026
• GameRant: recruit every Bancho Grill staff member: unlock conditions and stat blocks
• TheGamer: Bancho Grill employee tier list: staff comparison and skill breakdowns