Ecuador travel health
Required is not recommended: the first is what the border asks about, the second is what a clinic would suggest. Both, for Ecuador, then the number to dial and what care costs a visitor. Applies to every guide in Ecuador: Galápagos Islands, Quito.
Required to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Recommended
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Yellow fever if you are going to the Amazon — not needed for the Galápagos or the highlands
- Rabies for rural or long stays
Emergency number
911
Care for visitors
Good but costly
Quito and Guayaquil have good private hospitals. The Galápagos have small clinics on the main islands and a hyperbaric chamber on Santa Cruz, but anything serious means a flight to the mainland, which takes hours and depends on daylight. Evacuation cover is the part of the policy that matters.
Altitude sickness in Quito (2,850m) is common on the first day. Do not drink the tap water. Seasickness on inter-island crossings catches almost everyone — bring something for it.
The general rules — clinic timing, water, mosquitoes, insurance — are in travel health tips.
