Last updated 2026-08-18
TL;DR
Arizona does not issue a six-pack captain license. On Coast Guard waters (Colorado River, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu, Lake Powell) you need a federal MMC with an OUPV endorsement. That card is the six-pack. You still need sea service, a physical, a drug test, first aid and CPR, usually a TWIC, and local park permits. Confirm fees and processing with NMC.
Do you need a license for six-pack captain in Arizona?
Yes, if you carry even one passenger for hire on waters the Coast Guard treats as navigable waters of the United States. Arizona itself does not sell a captain license. The card you want is federal.
The six-pack is the Coast Guard Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels endorsement, usually written OUPV, on a Merchant Mariner Credential. It lets you run an uninspected vessel under 100 GRT with no more than six passengers, including at least one passenger for hire. That definition sits in 46 U.S.C. § 2101. [2]
Federal manning law is blunt. 46 U.S.C. § 8902 says: "An uninspected passenger vessel shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel, under prescribed regulations." [1]
Run a private boat with friends who pay nothing, and none of this touches you. Take money, and it does. A guide fee counts. A fuel split dressed up as a shared trip counts. A resort booking that puts strangers on your boat counts. Treat it as passenger-for-hire and get the license. The Coast Guard has seen every cute workaround.
On isolated stock tanks and some small municipal lakes with no interstate connection, Coast Guard manning may not attach. I will not pretend there is a public lake-by-lake map. Ask the Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection in Coast Guard District 11 before you bet a business on a loophole. Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu, and the Colorado River itself are not loopholes.
You still have Arizona watercraft rules under Title 5, Chapter 3. Those cover numbering, safety gear, and how you operate. They do not replace the federal ticket. [12]
Still at the should-I-even-start stage? Read how to start six-pack captain in Arizona next. That page is the order of operations. This one is the license itself.
What is a six-pack captain license, exactly?
It is a U.S. Coast Guard officer endorsement, not an Arizona occupational license. People say six-pack because the common uninspected passenger vessel is capped at six paying passengers.
The endorsement name in the regulations is operator of uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 GRT. Requirements live in 46 CFR 11.467. [4] General officer rules (age, medical fitness, first aid, English) live in 46 CFR 11.201. [6]
You will hear inland, Great Lakes and inland, near-coastal, and limited. For Arizona reservoirs, inland or a limited local route is what you actually use. Near-coastal is ocean paper. It is not desert paper.
The physical card is the Merchant Mariner Credential. 46 U.S.C. § 7106 says: "A license issued under this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods." [3]
Do not confuse this with an inspected small passenger vessel certificate under Subchapter T. That is a heavier path for more than six passengers. Stay at six and you stay uninspected. Stay uninspected and you stay on the OUPV.
Arizona does not issue a six-pack captain license. The credential is a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential with an OUPV endorsement under 46 CFR 11.467.
Which Arizona waters actually require a Coast Guard OUPV?
If the water is a navigable water of the United States and you carry a passenger for hire, you need the federal license. 33 CFR 2.36 is the Coast Guard definition of those waters. [13]
In Arizona, that means the Colorado River system. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu, the river corridors, and Lake Powell inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are where six-pack operators actually work. Those waters cross state lines, sit behind federal dams, and get real Coast Guard attention.
A city lake in Phoenix is a different fact pattern. I will not give you a fake yes or no for every municipal pond. Jurisdiction is a legal call. If money changes hands on a boat, ask the local marine inspection office or stay off the water until you have the MMC.
National Park waters add a second layer. 36 CFR 5.3 says: "Engaging in or soliciting any business in park areas, except in accordance with the provisions of a permit, contract, or other written agreement with the United States, except as such may be specifically authorized under special regulations applicable to a park area, is prohibited." [8]
So on Lake Mead or Lake Powell you can hold a perfect OUPV and still get shut down for skipping the park Commercial Use Authorization. The license and the park permit are not the same paper.
California's river and reservoir scene looks similar if you also run the lower Colorado from the Nevada or California bank. Six-pack captain license in California covers that side of the same water.
How much does six-pack captain cost in Arizona?
There is no Arizona six-pack fee, because there is no Arizona six-pack license. Your costs are federal user fees, the private stuff you buy to qualify, and whatever the park or city charges to take money on their property.
Coast Guard user fees are set in 46 CFR 10.219 and posted on the National Maritime Center fees page. [5][10] I am not going to paste a dollar figure that NMC can change. Open that page and pay what it says for evaluation, examination, and issuance of an officer endorsement. That is the honest way to do this.
TWIC is a TSA product. Confirm the current enrollment price on TSA's TWIC page. [9] The medical exam is a private clinician filling out form CG-719K. Prices move by clinic. First aid and CPR are ordinary course fees. A Coast Guard approved OUPV course is optional if you would rather not sit the exam, and schools set their own tuition.
Here is where I would spend: the approved course if you have never taken a deck exam, a real medical exam from someone who has filled out CG-719K before, and the park CUA if you work Mead or Powell. Here is where I would not: any class that markets an Arizona captain license, a near-coastal upgrade you will not use, or a fancy inspected-vessel consulting package while you are still at six passengers.
Park and city permits are local. Confirm with NPS for the recreation areas, Arizona State Parks for state park ramps, and the city clerk if you keep a storefront in Lake Havasu City or Page. Nobody has a single statewide commercial-boating fee table that I trust.
Want a paper checklist that is not a school and not a law firm? OUPVPath sells a $149 one-time USCG OUPV + Bareboat Kit. Use it or ignore it. The government forms are free on the Coast Guard site.
| Cost piece | Who sets the price | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| Coast Guard evaluation, exam, issuance | 46 CFR 10.219 and NMC | Confirm on the NMC fees page before you pay |
| TWIC | TSA | Confirm on the TSA TWIC page |
| CG-719K physical | Private clinician | Call two clinics that have done merchant mariner physicals |
| First aid and CPR | Private providers | Take a course the Coast Guard will accept under 46 CFR 11.201 |
| Optional approved OUPV course | Private schools | Worth it if you do not want the exam. Skip it if you test well. |
| NPS or state park commercial permit | The land manager | Required if you take money on that property. Confirm locally. |
How long does six-pack captain take in Arizona?
Sea service is the long pole. A standard original OUPV needs 360 days of service, with 90 of those days in the last 3 years, under 46 CFR 11.467. [4] On boats under 100 GRT, a day can be as little as 4 hours. That counting rule is in 46 CFR 10.107. [7]
Do the math. Run full days on the water and 360 days is about a year of working most days. Get out only on weekends and it is years.
A limited local OUPV, when the local OCMI will issue one, can drop the service demand a lot (operators and NMC materials often talk about 90 days on that water). That is a conversation with the Coast Guard, not a promise from a website.
The class, if you take one, is usually measured in days, not months. TWIC enrollment and the medical exam are appointment problems, not multi-year problems. NMC application processing changes. Confirm the current queue on the National Maritime Center site and do not let anyone guarantee you a mail-back date. [11]
I would not quit a job based on a processing estimate. File a complete package. Incomplete files sit.
On vessels under 100 GRT, 46 CFR 10.107 lets you count a day of service in 4-hour blocks. That is the only reason a serious weekend operator on Lake Havasu can finish 360 days without living on the boat.
What sea service does Arizona six-pack work actually count?
Deck service on vessels counts. Time as the person actually operating or responsible for the boat is what you write down. Fishing from the bank does not count. Sitting on a houseboat as a guest is weak. Skippering a center console on Lake Powell for four hours is a day on a vessel under 100 GRT. [7]
Use form CG-719S (Small Vessel Sea Service Form) for boats in this size range. You can self-certify your own small vessel time. Be able to back it up with logs, booking records, or a straight face if NMC asks.
Document the body of water. If you later want a limited endorsement for one reservoir, those days need to show that reservoir. If you want a clean inland OUPV, a mix is fine as long as the days are real.
Proof of 90 days in the last 3 years is the part people forget when they have old Navy time and a decade off the water. Old service still helps you toward 360. It does not replace the recent 90. [4]
Write dates, vessel names or registration numbers, tonnage or length, the waters, and the work you did. Vague lines like lots of time on Havasu get sent back.
Colorado operators on high-country reservoirs run the same federal service rules. Six-pack captain license in Colorado is useful if you split seasons.
What paper does the Coast Guard want in the application?
NMC wants a complete original-officer package. The current forms and the current submission method live on the Merchant Mariner Credential pages. [11] Confirm the checklist before you mail or upload anything. Forms get revised.
The usual stack is the application (CG-719B), small vessel sea service (CG-719S) or equivalent discharges, a medical evaluation (CG-719K) that leads to a medical certificate, drug test evidence that meets 46 CFR Part 16, first aid and CPR certificates that 46 CFR 11.201 will accept, a TWIC unless NMC tells you that you qualify for an exception, a course completion certificate if you used an approved course instead of the exam, and the user fees paid the way NMC is collecting them that month. [6][9][10][14]
Age is 18 for an original officer endorsement. [6] You apply as a person, not as an Arizona LLC. The company comes later.
I would not let a package mill rewrite your sea service into fiction. NMC has seen it. The evaluation fee is not refundable just because you were optimistic.
If a form instruction and a blog disagree, the form wins. Read the current CG-719 series, not a screenshot from 2019.
Drug testing is its own trap. 46 CFR 16.210 is the pre-employment chemical testing rule for marine employers. [14] For your original credential, follow the recency window printed on the current CG-719P instructions and on the NMC medical pages. Do not guess the number of days from memory.
Do you also need Arizona boater education and local park permits?
Often yes to education. Always yes to the land manager if you take money on their property.
Arizona watercraft law is Title 5, Chapter 3. A.R.S. § 5-301 is the definitions section. A.R.S. § 5-321 is the numbering statute. Your boat still needs to be numbered and equipped the way Arizona writes it, even when you already hold an MMC. [12][15]
Boater education is a separate Arizona Game and Fish requirement for many operators by birth date. Confirm the current cutoff and accepted courses on the Game and Fish boating pages before you assume the MMC waives it. Some states waive education for licensed captains. I will not invent a waiver Arizona has not clearly handed you on a named page.
Park permits are not optional on the big federal pools. Take money inside Lake Mead NRA or Glen Canyon NRA and you need the park's written authorization. That is 36 CFR 5.3, not a suggestion. [8] Arizona State Parks and local cities run their own special-use and business licenses. Confirm each property.
A Coast Guard license never paid a ramp concession fee for you. It also never replaced a city business license in Lake Havasu City or Page. Call those clerks.
Adding California ramps on the same river later? Start with how to start six-pack captain in California. The MMC travels. The park paper does not.
Inland, limited, or near-coastal: which OUPV should you ask for?
Run only Arizona lakes and the river? Ask for inland, or ask the OCMI about a limited local route. Read 46 CFR 11.467 for the service differences before you pick. [4]
Near-coastal costs you extra ocean or near-coastal service and extra exam material. It is the right call if you will also run San Diego or put a U.S. boat into ocean work. It is a waste if your business is sunrise trips on Havasu.
Limited endorsements can shrink the service burden and shrink where you may work. Fine if you are a one-lake guide. Painful if you later want to move the business.
I would get inland if I were close to 360 days. I would talk to the Coast Guard about limited if I were sitting on 90 honest days on one reservoir and I needed to start legally this season. I would not buy near-coastal as a status symbol.
| Endorsement | Typical Arizona use | Service you should plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Inland OUPV | Lakes and the river | 360 days, 90 in the last 3 years (46 CFR 11.467) |
| Limited local OUPV | One named reservoir | Ask the OCMI. Often discussed around 90 days. |
| Near-coastal OUPV | Ocean work outside Arizona | 360 days with the required ocean or near-coastal time |
The exam tracks the endorsement. Do not study lights, sounds, and ocean rules you will not be tested on, and do not skip them if you filed for near-coastal.
What happens after you have the card in the first year?
You can legally take up to six passengers for hire on the waters your endorsement names, on an uninspected vessel under 100 GRT. That is the whole privilege. [2][4]
Then the unglamorous paper starts. Drug testing becomes a marine-employer problem under 46 CFR Part 16 if you have employees. If you are the only operator you still need a way to stay in a testing program when the Coast Guard or a park asks. [14] Keep the MMC, medical certificate, and TWIC current. Keep a copy of the sea service that got you here.
Get a written park CUA or state park special-use permit before you advertise a public trip on those properties. [8] Get a city business license if you have a physical base. Register for Arizona transaction privilege tax if your activity is taxable. Confirm each of those with the agency that collects the money. I am not going to invent a TPT rate.
Insurance is not how you get the MMC. It is how you sleep. Price a passenger-for-hire policy before you take the first booked trip. Some ramps and marinas will not let a charter raft up without a certificate of insurance (the insurance kind, not the Coast Guard kind).
Carry the credential on board. If a boarding happens, you want the MMC and the medical certificate, not a photo of a diploma from a weekend school.
Building the actual business steps? Use how to start six-pack captain in Arizona. For a multi-state season, how to start six-pack captain in Colorado is the mountain version of the same federal card.
How do you renew a six-pack captain license for Arizona lakes?
The MMC runs 5 years. 46 U.S.C. § 7106 sets merchant mariner licenses at a 5-year period. [3] Renewal is federal, not an Arizona MVD task.
You will need the recent sea service or refresher path that NMC accepts at the time you file, a current medical certificate, and the renewal fees in 46 CFR 10.219. [5] Confirm the current renewal checklist on NMC. [11] Do not let it lapse if you can help it. Expired credentials turn into a harder reopen.
Keep taking passengers only while the credential and the medical certificate are valid. A pretty plastic card with an expired medical is a problem.
If your route is limited to one lake, check that the limitation still matches the water you work. Adding waters later is an upgrade evaluation, not a silent assumption.
The California renewal write-up is the same federal process with different local color. Six-pack captain renewal in California Alaska is a reminder that the same 5-year federal card travels and the waters do not. Six-pack captain license in Alaska
What is a waste of money on the Arizona six-pack path?
Paying anyone for an Arizona six-pack license that is not the USCG MMC. That product does not exist.
Buying near-coastal exam prep when you will never leave the reservoirs. Paying a consultant to design a 20-passenger inspected boat while you still have 40 days of sea service. Purchasing a second state's captain permit as if it replaces OUPV.
Cheap medical exams from clinicians who have never seen CG-719K and who leave the form incomplete. You will pay twice.
Here is where the money works: documented sea time (go work), an approved course if tests rattle you, and the park permit that lets you legally advertise. Everything else is optional or downstream.
Want the forms and bareboat paper in one pile? The OUPVPath kit is at /start. The Coast Guard will still be the one who issues the license. OUPVPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company that can move your file.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for six-pack captain in Arizona?
Yes, if you carry a passenger for hire on Coast Guard waters. Arizona does not issue that license. You need a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential with an OUPV endorsement. Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu, and the Colorado River are the usual trigger waters. Isolated ponds can be a different jurisdiction call. Ask District 11, do not guess.
How much does six-pack captain cost in Arizona?
There is no state six-pack fee. Budget Coast Guard evaluation, exam, and issuance fees in 46 CFR 10.219 (confirm current amounts on the NMC fees page), a TSA TWIC, a CG-719K physical, first aid and CPR, and optional school tuition. Parks and cities add their own commercial permits. I will not invent a total. Open those fee pages before you write a business plan.
How long does six-pack captain take in Arizona?
Sea service dominates the calendar. A standard OUPV needs 360 days, with 90 in the last 3 years, under 46 CFR 11.467. On boats under 100 GRT you may count a day in 4-hour blocks. A limited local endorsement can take less service if the OCMI agrees. Class and TWIC are days to weeks. NMC processing changes. Confirm the queue. Nobody can honestly promise a date.
Can I run Lake Powell with only an Arizona boating education card?
No, not if you take passengers for hire. The education card is a state operator rule. Lake Powell sits in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on waters the Coast Guard treats as navigable. You need the federal OUPV plus the park's written commercial authorization under 36 CFR 5.3. The education card does not replace either one.
Does a California OUPV work on Lake Havasu?
The MMC is federal. An inland or properly routed OUPV issued after a California application is still a Coast Guard credential, so the license itself can be used on Arizona waters named on the endorsement. Park permits, city business licenses, and Arizona watercraft numbering do not travel with it. Check any route limitation printed on your MMC before you advertise.
How many passengers can I carry on a six-pack in Arizona?
Six, including at least one passenger for hire, on an uninspected vessel under 100 GRT. That is the 46 U.S.C. § 2101 definition that gives the six-pack its name. A seventh paying body makes you an inspected-vessel problem. Crew who are not passengers sit outside that count, but do not play games with friends who look like guests and pay like customers.
Do I need a TWIC for inland Arizona lakes?
Most original MMC applicants need a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. Confirm exceptions with NMC before you skip enrollment. TSA sets the TWIC price and the enrollment sites. Inland work does not automatically erase the TWIC step. If NMC's current original-officer checklist still lists it, get it.
Can I use military sea time toward an Arizona six-pack?
Yes, if it is real deck service you can document. Military discharges and evaluations often substitute for CG-719S on larger ships. You still need 90 days in the last 3 years for a standard original OUPV. Old sea time that stopped ten years ago will not carry the recent-service piece by itself. Bring the records, not a story.
Is the Coast Guard exam required if I take an approved OUPV course?
A Coast Guard approved course with a passing school exam usually replaces the REC exam for that endorsement. Confirm the school is on the current NMC approved-course list and that the certificate matches the inland or near-coastal endorsement you want. An unapproved weekend seminar does not replace the exam. Keep the original certificate for the file.
Do I need a USCG license for a bareboat charter in Arizona?
A true bareboat charter is a vessel hire without a hired operator. Put a captain on the boat and it is not bareboat, so the OUPV rules come back. Parks and insurance companies still care how you advertise. If you stay aboard and direct the trip, treat it as passenger-for-hire. Do not use bareboat language to hide a guided trip.
What Coast Guard office handles Arizona OUPV applicants?
Applications are processed by the National Maritime Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Arizona waters on the lower Colorado sit in Coast Guard District 11. Use NMC for the credential file and the local marine inspection office for route limitations and jurisdiction questions. Confirm current submission instructions on the NMC credential pages before you ship paper.
Does Arizona tax six-pack charter trips?
Maybe. Transaction privilege tax and local privilege taxes depend on what you are selling and where you are based. That is an Arizona Department of Revenue question, not a Coast Guard question. I will not invent a rate or a category. Ask DOR and your city before you print brochures. Your MMC does not enroll you in TPT.
Can a non-citizen get a six-pack license to work Arizona lakes?
OUPV is the officer endorsement with the well-known nationality exception in the credentialing rules. Citizenship is still the default for most other officer endorsements. If this is your situation, read 46 CFR 10.221 and ask NMC before you pay a school. Immigration status and TWIC eligibility are separate gates. Do not mix them up.
What if I only have 90 days of time on Lake Mead?
Ask the OCMI about a limited local OUPV for that water. 46 CFR 11.467 is where limited endorsements live, and 90 days is the figure people in this trade actually talk about. It is not a promise. If the Coast Guard will not limit the route, you are still on the 360-day path. Keep logging. Do not pad the form.
Sources
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 8902: An uninspected passenger vessel must be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary.
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 2101: Defines uninspected passenger vessel, including vessels under 100 gross tons carrying not more than 6 passengers with at least one passenger for hire.
- U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 7106: A license issued under this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.467: Sets OUPV endorsement requirements, including service (commonly 360 days with 90 in the last 3 years) and limited local options.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.219: Establishes Coast Guard user fees for merchant mariner credential evaluation, examination, and issuance.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.201: General officer endorsement rules including minimum age of 18 and first aid and CPR evidence for an original endorsement.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.107: Defines a day of service, including the shorter 4-hour day used on vessels of less than 100 GRT.
- eCFR, 36 CFR § 5.3: Prohibits engaging in or soliciting business in National Park System areas without a permit or other written authorization.
- Transportation Security Administration, TWIC program page: TWIC is the TSA credential most original MMC applicants must hold; current enrollment price is posted by TSA.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Fees: Publishes the current NMC user fees that implement 46 CFR 10.219 for applicants to confirm before paying.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Merchant Mariner Credential: Official application, checklist, and processing entry point for original and renewal MMC officer endorsements.
- Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 5-301: Arizona watercraft definitions for Title 5, Chapter 3, which still apply to numbered boats operated in the state.
- eCFR, 33 CFR § 2.36: Coast Guard definition of navigable waters of the United States used to decide where federal manning rules attach.
- eCFR, 46 CFR § 16.210: Pre-employment chemical testing rule in the Coast Guard drug-testing part that marine employers and credential files rely on.
- Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 5-321: Arizona watercraft numbering statute; state numbering still applies even when the operator holds a federal MMC.