diff --git a/bridge/cmd/debug/vaa.go b/bridge/cmd/debug/vaa.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dac456ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bridge/cmd/debug/vaa.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package debug
+
+import (
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"github.com/certusone/wormhole/bridge/pkg/vaa"
+	"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"log"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var DebugCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "debug",
+	Short: "Debugging utilities",
+}
+
+var decodeVaaCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "decode-vaa [DATA]",
+	Short: "Decode a hex-encoded VAA",
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		for _, arg := range args {
+			arg = strings.TrimPrefix(arg, "0x")
+			b, err := hex.DecodeString(arg)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			v, err := vaa.Unmarshal(b)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			spew.Dump(v)
+		}
+	},
+}
+
+func init() {
+	DebugCmd.AddCommand(decodeVaaCmd)
+}
diff --git a/bridge/cmd/root.go b/bridge/cmd/root.go
index 7d65fd2b..39a4b67c 100644
--- a/bridge/cmd/root.go
+++ b/bridge/cmd/root.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/certusone/wormhole/bridge/cmd/debug"
 	"github.com/certusone/wormhole/bridge/pkg/version"
 	"os"
 
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(guardiand.AdminCmd)
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(guardiand.TemplateCmd)
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(versionCmd)
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(debug.DebugCmd)
 }
 
 // initConfig reads in config file and ENV variables if set.