(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, beginning on January 1, 2001, no person born on or after December 31, 1986, may operate a motorboat or personal watercraft on any waters of this state without first having obtained a certificate of boating safety education from this or any other state, which certificate was obtained by satisfactorily completing a course of instruction in boating safety education administered by the United States coast guard auxiliary; the United States power squadron; the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources; any person certified to teach the course administered by West Virginia natural resources boating safety education section personnel; or any person authorized to teach the course prescribed by the national association of state boating law administrators in this or any other state.
(b) Any person who is subject to subdivision (a) of this section shall possess the certificate of boating safety education when operating a motorboat or personal watercraft on the waters of this state and shall show the certificate on demand of any West Virginia natural resources police officers or other law-enforcement officer authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(c) The following persons are exempt from the requirements of subsection (a) of this section:
(1) A person who is a nonresident of this state and who is visiting the state for sixty days or less in a motorboat or personal watercraft from another state if that person: