Tag:waterway=access_point
 waterway =
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| Description |
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A location for entering or leaving a body of water. 
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| Group: waterways |
| Used on these elements |
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| See also |
| Status: in use |
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waterway= is the primary tag for a point of interest where people can enter or leave a body of water from land, a pier, or another structure. In other words, this is where a path meets the waterline. Typical use cases are launching small boats, wading, swimming, and going out onto surface ice in winter.
For access points that have a constructed ramp for launching boats, see leisure=slipway. For places to access water as a resource, see amenity=drinking_water, amenity=water_point, waterway=water_point, man_made=water_well, and man_made=water_tap.
How to map
Place a node at the location where someone can access the water. Tag the node with waterway=.
If the location is on the edge of natural=water, natural=coastline, or man_made=pier, connect the access point to that way. If there is a path or road leading to the access point, connect that way to the node. If the access point is near a waterway centerline, use waterway=link to connect the access point to the centerline of the waterway.
Useful combinations
Access tags
access=*– the overall allowed accesscanoe=*– whether canoes and kayaks can be launched heretrailer=*– whether boats can be launched on trailers (see alsoleisure=slipway)swimming=*– whether swimming is allowed from here (see alsoleisure=swimming_area)fishing=*– whether fishing is allowed from here (see alsoleisure=fishing)snowmobile=*– whether snowmobiles can enter the ice in winterski:nordic=*– whether cross-country skiers can enter the ice in winter
Point of interest tags
name=*description=*informal=*operator=*opening_hours=*fee=*wheelchair=*– is it wheelchair accessible for the allowed usessurface=*– the physical surface materialtidal=*– is the water here affected by tidesintermittent=*– is it sometimes unavailableseasonal=*– is it available only part of the year
Available amenity tags
parking=*– is there public parking within reasonable walking distancedrinking_water=*– is potable water available nearby (generally not direct from the water body itself)camping=*– is camping allowed nearbytoilets=*– are public restroom facilities available nearbyshower=*– are public showers available nearbypicnic_table=*– is a picnic table available nearbybbq=*– is a grill available nearbyopenfire=*– are campfires allowed here
Examples
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A public canoe access point on the Winooski River in Richmond, VT, USA -
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Econfina Creek Canoe Launch - Bay County, FL, USA -
Canoe Launch Point at Lawn Hill Gorge in Queensland, Australia
Alternative tagging
If a feature is better suited to leisure=slipway, leisure=bathing_place ,leisure=swimming_area, or leisure=fishing, use that tag instead. If desired, waterway= can be used in addition.
Historically, canoe=put_in, canoe=egress, and canoe=put_in;egress have been used to tag small-boat launches. However, canoe=* is best as an access tag and is not suited as a primary type tag. The different permutations of put_in/egress are also difficult to query, and are not used consistently by mappers to show launch-ability.
whitewater=put_in and whitewater=put_in;egress have also been used for small-boat launches, but are redundant to the canoe=* tags and suffer the same issues.