We report III-nitride vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with buried tunnel junction (BTJ) contacts. To form the BTJs, GaN TJ contacts were etched away outside the aperture followed by n-GaN regrowth for current spreading. Under pulsed operation, a BTJ VCSEL with a 14 µm diameter aperture showed a lasing wavelength of 430 nm, a threshold current of ∼20 mA (12 kA/cm2), and a maximum output power of 2.8 mW. Under CW operation, an 8 µm aperture VCSEL showed a differential efficiency of 11% and a peak output power of ∼0.72 mW.