OUPV (Six-Pack) and Master credential paths for charter boats, tour boats, and passenger-for-hire operators in Idaho.
It isn't a state license — it's the same federal USCG Merchant Mariner Credential with an OUPV or Master endorsement, used nationwide.
Idaho fishing guides typically hold OUPV Inland for charter work on Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Coeur d'Alene. The Snake River is a navigable Western River.
The nearest USCG Regional Examination Center is Portland, OR. Compare centers and appointment rules in the USCG REC locations guide.
Major Idaho charter hubs
Idaho is the state where the Western Rivers assumption is most tempting and most wrong. The Snake River carries genuine commercial barge traffic through the Columbia–Snake lock system, which looks exactly like the towboat work 33 CFR 83.24(j) and the downbound provisions at 83.09(a)(ii) and 83.14(d) were written for — but those apply on the Western Rivers, and 83.03(n) defines that as the Mississippi system. The Snake drains to the Columbia, as do Lake Pend Oreille and Coeur d'Alene Lake, so none of the river provisions are in force anywhere in Idaho and the plain Inland Rules are the whole rulebook, with no Part 80 line drawn in the state. A candidate who studied the Western Rivers deviations because the work looked like river work has studied the wrong half of Rule 9. REC Portland handles Idaho, and it is the office that sees Columbia-system service every day.
33 CFR Part 80 draws no demarcation line in Idaho. Its 106 sections cover the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the Pacific islands and Alaska; a state with no coast has no section, which is itself the answer.
This decides which rulebook you steer by, not where your credential may operate: the route limit is the 46 CFR Part 7 Boundary Line, and the two lines are not drawn in the same place. How the two lines differ · International Rules · Inland Rules
33 CFR Part 80 and the Part 83 definitions above read from eCFR on 12 Aug 2026. Any specific water is a determination for the cognizant Coast Guard Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection.
Not sure the trip needs a credential at all? The captain's-license trigger guide.
Document your sea service
Pass the medical & drug test
CG-719K and CG-719P — medical certificate guide.
Get a TWIC + CPR / First Aid
Submit your application to the NMC
Pass the exam at REC Portland, OR
Or an approved course provider — what it covers and the score you need.
There is no Idaho captain's license to get — you earn a federal USCG credential, in the five steps set out above, and sit the exam at REC Portland, OR.
The same — a federal Merchant Mariner Credential endorsement, valid in every state. Idaho licenses the business, the guide and local fishing separately.
The minimum age is federal, not set by Idaho: 18 for OUPV, 19 for most Master endorsements, 21 for higher-tonnage and ocean routes (46 CFR 11.201(e)).
At REC Portland, OR once the NMC approves the application, or through an approved course provider that administers the exam itself.
Last verified:
Primary sources
Was this page helpful?
The written test is the same federal exam nationwide. One citation-backed question — no sign-up.
No signup, no credit card. Answer real exam questions and find out where you stand.
