Dave the Diver Villager Gifts: All 23 Favorites (2026)

Dave the Diver villager gifts work on a simpler system than the base game's relationship mechanics, but the jungle DLC's story adds enough new names that even players who've gifted their way through the Blue Hole will be starting from zero. This covers all 23 giftable villagers, what each one wants, and what you get for maxing them out.

TL;DR: 23 villagers accept gifts in the jungle DLC. Each has a favorite gift that raises friendship faster than generic items, and each unlocks a 3-heart and 4-heart reward. One gift per villager per day; the first heart fills free on meeting them. Cooking a villager's favorite dish at Bancho Grill also raises friendship, separate from gifting. The 9 recruitable Bancho Grill staff are a different roster entirely; none of them appear on this gift list.

Dave the Diver villager gifts: how many villagers can you gift? (quick answer)

23. Community trackers agree on the same 23 names across independent sources: Bima, Basu, Bonita, Cinta, Eka, Chandra, Lipah, Kinah, Marone, Meilan, Muna, Panutah, Peneb, Jepun, Perak, Omila, Gesang, Jaka, Harta, Lathi, Uzme, Saniah, and Rimbo. Mina, who hands you the Purification Filter early in the story, is confirmed story-only and does not appear on any gift-tracking list.

Key takeaways

• 23 giftable villagers, cross-verified across multiple sources
• One gift per villager per day; the first heart fills automatically on meeting them
• Favorite gifts raise friendship noticeably faster than generic items
• Cooking a villager's favorite dish at Bancho Grill is a second, separate way to raise friendship
• Rimbo's shop restocks daily and is the most efficient gift-farming loop
• The gift-friendship roster and the Bancho Grill staff roster do not overlap at all

The gift-friendship system vs. staff recruitment: two separate rosters

This is worth stating clearly because it's easy to assume otherwise: none of the 9 recruitable Bancho Grill staff (Yasuto, Martin Tweed, Rover, Om Nom, Charlie Bonnet III, William Longbottom, Mita, Udo, Sato) appear anywhere on the 23-name giftable-villager list. Gift-friendship and staff recruitment are two independent systems that happen to share a jungle setting. If you're trying to build a relationship with a specific staff member, gifts won't do it; check the staff guide for their actual unlock conditions instead.

How the friendship system works

Every villager starts at one heart automatically the moment you meet them for the first time. From there, you fill the remaining three hearts through gifts, favorite meals, or (for some villagers) friendship-specific side content.

One gift per villager per day. Giving a second gift to the same villager on the same day doesn't add progress. If you're trying to max multiple villagers, treat it as a daily routine: check your inventory each morning, hand out whatever favorites you're carrying, move on.

Favorites matter. Generic items raise friendship a small amount. A villager's specific favorite gift raises it by noticeably more. The game shows a heart icon next to items in your inventory that are a known favorite, or you can ask a villager directly what they like.

Cooking counts too. Serving a villager's favorite dish at Bancho Grill raises friendship separately from handing them an item. This is the one place the gift system connects to the DLC's cooking loop: Uzme's favorite Bancho Grill ingredient is Giant Snakehead, a species already in the jungle fish roster.

GODEEPER: If you're fishing for gift materials and dinner ingredients on the same trip, the full species list by zone saves you a wasted dive. Dave the Diver Jungle Fish Guide: 50+ Species by Zone →

The villager roster spans both story-critical NPCs and background characters. Gift-giving works the same way for both once you know what they like.

Favorite gifts by villager

Twenty-one of the 23 villagers have a confirmed favorite gift. Omila and Marone's favorites weren't documented in any source checked for this guide; rather than guess, this list leaves them out until they're confirmed.

Notice the overlap: Bima, Eka, and Gesang all share a taste for comics and game consoles, and Peneb and Saniah both like sweets. If you're stocking up on gift materials before a village round, these shared categories mean one supply run covers multiple villagers at once.

Villager relationships in Dave the Diver surface through moments like this as much as through the gift-and-heart mechanic itself, which is part of why the two feel connected even when a specific link, like Bonita's VIP trigger, isn't actually confirmed.

3-heart and 4-heart rewards

Every villager's max-friendship reward is different, and most are cosmetic (decor items, clothing, collectibles). A handful have genuine gameplay value, flagged below.

The three worth prioritizing: Rimbo's Electric Scooter and Perak's 50% Blacksmith discount are the two rewards with actual gameplay utility beyond decoration, and Bonita's Air Resonance Necklace is a popular pick among players who've compared notes on which 4-heart items are worth the grind.

Tips: the fastest way to raise friendship

Check Rimbo's shop daily. It restocks every in-game day with merch, household items, and collectibles, several of which double as other villagers' favorite gifts. Building a habit of checking it each morning is the single most efficient way to keep multiple friendships moving at once.

Don't stockpile gifts you can't use same-day. Since only one gift per villager per day counts, there's no benefit to carrying a backlog. Give what you have each day rather than saving items for a "gifting session."

Route your fishing around favorites, not just recipes. If you're already diving for Bancho Grill ingredients, cross-reference which species double as favorite gifts (Uzme's Coral preference and Lathi's Pirarucu Scale preference both connect to items you're likely already collecting).

Don't assume Bonita's gift progress affects her VIP status. It's a reasonable guess given the thematic overlap, but no source confirms a link between Bonita's friendship hearts and the separate VIP-customer trigger covered in the Bancho Grill recipes guide. Treat them as unrelated until that changes.

GODEEPER: Bonita's VIP unlock and the recipe it gates are covered in full, including the mission that actually triggers it. Dave the Diver Bancho Grill Recipes: All Dishes Listed →

Common mistakes

Trying to gift Bancho Grill staff members. Yasuto, Martin Tweed, Rover, and the rest of the recruitable staff aren't on the 23-villager gift list. Their unlock conditions are entirely separate; gifting them isn't a mechanic that exists.

Giving multiple gifts to the same villager in one day expecting extra progress. It doesn't stack. One gift per villager per day is a hard cap.

Ignoring the Bancho Grill cooking route to friendship. Gifts aren't the only lever. If you've already unlocked a villager's favorite dish, serving it at the restaurant is free progress you're likely leaving on the table.

Guessing at Omila's or Marone's favorite gift. Neither is confirmed in any source checked for this guide. Give generic items until the community documents it rather than assuming a favorite that might be wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many villagers can you gift in the jungle DLC? 23, cross-verified across sources. The 9 recruitable Bancho Grill staff are a separate roster and don't overlap with this list.

How many hearts can you max out with a villager? Four. The first fills automatically on meeting them; the rest come from gifts, favorite meals, or friendship-specific content.

Can you give more than one gift per day? No. Each villager accepts one gift per in-game day; a second gift the same day adds nothing.

Does cooking a favorite dish raise friendship? Yes, separately from gifting. Uzme's favorite Bancho Grill ingredient is Giant Snakehead.

What's the best 4-heart reward? Rimbo's Electric Scooter and Perak's 50% Blacksmith discount have real gameplay value; Bonita's Air Resonance Necklace is a popular cosmetic pick.

Is Bonita's friendship level connected to her VIP unlock? Not confirmed. No source links her gift-friendship progress to the separate VIP-customer trigger at Bancho Grill.

Related Reading

• Dave the Diver Jungle Staff Guide: All 9 Unlocks (2026): the separate recruitable-staff roster and their unlock conditions.
• Dave the Diver Bancho Grill Recipes: All Dishes Listed: every recipe, including the ones tied to VIP customers like Bonita.
• Dave the Diver Jungle Fish Guide: 50+ Species by Zone: the species roster that feeds both gift materials and Bancho Grill favorites.

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
• Destructoid: Dave the Diver In the Jungle villager gifts and friendship rewards: favorite gifts and 3/4-heart reward tables