Travel medicine for the Galápagos
Galápagos days run on small boats. Cipro and a patch keep them yours.
Get the antibiotic and the motion patch the CDC recommends for multi-day cruise travel, prescribed without the appointment. Sent to your pharmacy, ready before you fly.
- Physician-founded
- Licensed in all 50 states
- HSA / FSA eligible
- Same-day Rx in most cases
A Galápagos itinerary is built around small expedition vessels, Zodiac transfers, and four to eight days at sea. The CDC estimates 20 to 50 percent of travelers to Latin America develop bacterial traveler's diarrhea within a two-week trip, and small-vessel travel adds a second exposure pattern: motion sickness that often hits worst on overnight crossings between islands. Ciprofloxacin remains a CDC first-line option for empiric TD treatment in Latin America because fluoroquinolone resistance in the region is still relatively low compared with Southeast Asia. The transdermal scopolamine patch provides up to 72 hours of motion sickness prevention from a single application, which matches the way Galápagos cruises sail at night and disembark at new islands each morning. Carrying both means you treat the gut and the swell at hour one, instead of losing a landing day to either.
Ecuador travel health guide — vaccines, snapshot overview, and what to review before you go.
Orders are reviewed and prescriptions sent to your pharmacy within 24 hours.
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+1 (302) 251-2302Rx at your pharmacy in three steps.
No appointment. No waiting room. Answer a few questions and a licensed provider reviews within hours.
Your destination, dates, health history, and current medications. Takes about 2 minutes.
A licensed clinician reviews your health profile, checks for interactions, and approves your prescription.
- Allergy screen passed
- Drug interactions clear
- Prescription approved
Your approved prescription is sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice. Pick it up when your pharmacy has it ready.
Skip the appointment. Get the same Rx.
Both columns cover the visit and prescribing only. Your pharmacy bills the medication itself on either side.
Medications in the Galápagos Islands plan
Galápagos medication FAQ
- A Galápagos trip combines two health exposures that travel clinics treat separately. Bacterial traveler's diarrhea is the dominant gastrointestinal risk in Ecuador and Latin America broadly, with the CDC estimating 20 to 50 percent of travelers picking up TD on a typical two-week trip. Small-vessel cruise travel adds motion sickness, which the CDC notes is common during overnight inter-island crossings on the smaller expedition boats that most Galápagos itineraries use. Carrying ciprofloxacin and a scopolamine patch means you treat both at the first symptom, without trying to find a clinic mid-cruise.
- The CDC recommends applying the transdermal scopolamine patch behind the ear at least four hours before exposure to motion. For a Galápagos cruise, that means putting the patch on the morning of your first boat transfer or your first overnight sail. One patch provides up to 72 hours of coverage, so most travelers rotate to a new patch behind the opposite ear every three days. Wash your hands after applying it and avoid touching your eyes, since the active ingredient can cause temporary blurred vision if rubbed in. Your provider will walk you through the timing during your visit.
- Three medications that cover the full symptom picture of a small-boat cruise. Ciprofloxacin is a short bacterial TD course (500 mg twice daily for one to three days), used the moment symptoms start. Scopolamine (Transderm Scop) is a 72-hour transdermal patch that prevents motion sickness during overnight crossings and Zodiac transfers. Ondansetron (Zofran) handles the nausea that can come from either source and is also useful on the transfer flights into Quito or Guayaquil. Together they let you treat at the first sign of symptoms instead of losing a landing day to recovery.
- Orders are reviewed by a US-licensed provider and the Rx is sent electronically to your pharmacy within 24 hours. Most travelers can pick it up the same day.
- After your provider approves the Rx, it's sent electronically to whichever pharmacy you choose during your visit. Your pharmacy will tell you when the medication is ready for pickup. You can use your pharmacy insurance to cover the medication itself.
- If a provider can't safely prescribe (rare, usually due to a contraindication), the visit fee is refunded in full. You only pay if the Rx is sent.
Galápagos cruises are short. Don't spend one in the cabin.
Get the ciprofloxacin and scopolamine patch the CDC recommends for Latin America cruise travel, prescribed without the appointment.