Coast Guard Regional Exam Centers

By Captain Mike Kelley · Ship’s Captain and Maritime Educator
Checked against the National Maritime Center’s REC pages and REC/MU FAQ · October 2026

What an REC does today

Years ago you walked your application into the REC and talked it over with an evaluator at the counter. That has changed. Applications for the Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) and medical certificate now go online, and the NMC in Martinsburg, West Virginia, evaluates them.

Today the REC mainly does three things for most mariners:

• Gives exams, by appointment, in its exam room.
• Counter service, also by appointment, at most locations (New Orleans has suspended it).
• First Class Pilot and Local Limited applications. These still go to the REC’s email inbox rather than through the online system.

Renewing with an open-book exam? Since May 2020 the NMC, not the REC, issues renewal open-book exams. After you get your approval-to-test letter, pay on Pay.gov and email NMCRenewalExams@uscg.mil.

Before you book: checklist

• You have your approval-to-test (ATT) letter from the NMC. The REC won’t give an exam without it.
• You know your Mariner Reference Number (MRN). It’s on your NMC paperwork.
• You’ve paid the exam fee on Pay.gov, the only payment method, and saved the receipt. Email it to the REC ahead of time or bring it.
• You’re booking at least 2 business days ahead.
• You’ve set aside enough consecutive days for all your modules (see the exam-day rules below).

How to book an appointment

Call the NMC contact center at 1-888-IASKNMC (427-5662), or email the REC you want (addresses are in the directory below). Every REC page asks for the same four things:

1. Your full name
2. Your Mariner Reference Number (MRN)
3. The date or dates you want
4. A cell phone number, for confirmation

You choose the REC. The NMC’s exam FAQ simply tells you to select the REC where you want to take your exam, so it doesn’t have to be the one nearest your home. You can book as far out as you like, but you can only take the openings that exist.

What to bring

Personal belongings stay out of the exam room. RECs provide small lockers, but leave valuables in your car or at your hotel. Electronic devices of any kind can’t be used during the exam. Before you go, check the NMC’s current exam room materials list for your exam.

Exam-day rules that catch people out

• Arrive 30 minutes early to register. If you’re late, the REC may cancel your appointment. If they do let you test, you only get the time left in that session.
• Two 3½-hour sessions a day, and you’re expected to attempt one module per session.
• Once you start, keep going. The NMC’s exam room rules say all modules of an exam must be taken in consecutive sessions, on consecutive days, within the same business week. A four-module exam is two full days.
• Don’t leave the room mid-module, not even for the restroom. Leaving ends the module, and it’s scored as it stands.
• Fail by one question? You may challenge up to two of your incorrect answers, but only before you leave the room. Blank answers can’t be challenged.

For passing scores, retests and the 1-year deadline, see How Coast Guard Exams Work.

Check before you go. Look at your REC’s page and the NMC announcements the week before your exam. REC services were suspended during the early-2026 government funding lapse, and the NMC announced routine REC operations would resume on May 18, 2026. Closures and staffing cuts can still happen with little notice, as San Juan and New Orleans show.

Regional Exam Center directory

Jump to your region:

Hours are exam-room hours as each REC posts them: Monday to Friday, local time, closed on federal holidays. Most RECs list the NMC contact center as their phone number. Information captured from the NMC’s REC pages on October 29, 2026. Always confirm on the official REC page before you travel.

Northeast & Mid-Atlantic

Southeast & Caribbean

Gulf Coast

Inland Rivers & Great Lakes

West Coast

Alaska & Hawaii

Common mistakes

• Showing up without an appointment. Walk-ins aren’t accepted for exams, and counter service isn’t guaranteed without one.
• Parking at the wrong lot. Reserve your spot ahead of time and check the exact address. Arriving late may cost you your exam slot.
• Paying at the REC. Pay.gov is the only way to pay. Do it before you go.
• Bringing the wrong ID. An older, non-REAL ID driver’s license may not get you into a federal building. Bring your passport, TWIC or MMC as a backup.
• Booking one module at a time. Once you start an exam, its modules run in consecutive sessions within the same week. Plan the days off before you book.
• Mailing applications to the REC. MMC and medical certificate applications go through Navita. Mailing them in, or using formats other than PDF, causes delays.
• Driving to “New Orleans.” REC New Orleans is in Mandeville.

Next step: once your approval to test arrives, pay the fee on Pay.gov, pick your REC from the directory above, and email it your name, MRN, dates and cell number.

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