Tag:natural=reef
 natural =
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| Description |
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A feature (rock, sandbar, coral, etc) lying permanently beneath the surface of the water. 
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| Rendering in OSM Carto |
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| Group: marine |
| Used on these elements |
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| Useful combination |
| Status: de facto |
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A 
reef is a rock, sandbar or other feature (such as coral, stromatolites...) that lies permanently beneath the surface of the water but close to the surface (permanently means at low tide for the seas).
However note that small parts of reefs may be exposed at low tide, but not the entire feature. Reefs are never exposed at high tide.
How to map
To map a reef you can just draw a line closing on itself, marking the area of the reef and tag it with natural=. To map larger or ring shaped reefs, use a multipolygon 
.
If you do not know the exact area of the reef you can map it as a node or as a not closed way .
Common combinations
Mapping caveats
This tag should not be used for:
- features that rise permanently above the water - use
place=island/isletinstead and add the type of soil/vegetation if you know it (sand, bare_rock, scrub...). If the area is in a sea, don't forget to addnatural=coastline(not needed for a inland piece of water). - features exposed at low tide but water covered at high tide - use the more appropriate tags between
natural=shoalornatural=sand+tidal=yes(if the area is sand or gravel like for the lower part of beaches lying below the water level at high tide),natural=bare_rock/rock+tidal=yes(for rocks) andnatural=wetland+wetland=tidalflat(for tidal flats, i.e. muddy areas, see mudflat on Wikipedia). - Raised areas of the seabed that generally aren't close enough to the surface to be a hazard to surface navigation, consider
subsea=bankinstead.
Examples
- : Tetopa (Tahiti)
- : Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands)
See also
natural=shoalfor shoals that lie above the surface of the water at low tidenatural=beachfor beachesnatural=wetland+wetland=tidalflatfor muddy areas- Overpass Query to display reefs on the map. Zoom to the area you need and press Run in the top left corner.
subsea=*, alternative tagging.seamark:sea_area:category=reef, alternative tagging.
Possible synonyms
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