Private clinics in Santiago are excellent and expensive, the tap water is safe, and the two health risks worth planning for are altitude in the north and UV everywhere.
- Private clinics in Santiago are first-rate, expensive, and want payment or a guarantee up front. Clinica Alemana, Las Condes and Santa Maria are the usual names, and insurance is not optional.
- San Pedro de Atacama sits at 2,400 m and the standard tours go to 4,300 m at dawn. Spend a day in town first - people routinely do the geysers on their first morning and feel dreadful.
- Headache, nausea and breathlessness that do not settle mean going down. Drink water, skip alcohol the first night and go slowly.
- Tap water is safe in Santiago and most cities, though hard and heavily chlorinated. In the far north it is high in minerals and can upset stomachs - use bottled there.
- There is no malaria and no yellow fever in Chile and no vaccinations are required. Check your insurance covers hiking, altitude and evacuation.
Medical care
- Private clinics in Santiago are first-rate: Clinica Alemana, Clinica Las Condes, Clinica Santa Maria.
- They are expensive and want payment or a guarantee up front. Insurance is not optional.
- Public hospitals will treat an emergency and are slower and more basic.
- Pharmacies (Cruz Verde, Salcobrand, Ahumada) are everywhere and pharmacists will advise; many drugs are sold over the counter.
- In Patagonia and the Atacama, serious care is a flight away, which is what evacuation cover is for.
Altitude
- San Pedro de Atacama sits at 2,400 m and the standard day trips go to 4,300 m at the El Tatio geysers, at dawn, having got up at 04:00.
- Spend a day at San Pedro before the high tours. People routinely do the geysers on their first morning and feel dreadful.
- Drink water, skip alcohol the first night, and go slowly. Coca tea is offered and helps a little.
- Headache, nausea and breathlessness that do not settle mean going down.
Sun, water and food
- UV in the Atacama and the far south is extreme. The ozone thinning over southern Chile is real; burn times in Patagonia are shorter than the temperature suggests.
- Tap water is safe in Santiago and most cities and is very hard and heavily chlorinated. Many visitors prefer bottled for taste; both are fine.
- In the far north the water is high in minerals and can upset stomachs. Bottled there.
- Food hygiene is good. Ceviche and raw shellfish are excellent and are the usual culprits when something goes wrong; eat them where it is busy.
- Red tide (marea roja) closes shellfish harvesting in the south at times, and the ban is publicised and enforced.
Before you go
- No vaccinations are required. Hepatitis A and the usual boosters are sensible.
- There is no malaria and no yellow fever in Chile.
- Bring prescription medicine with the prescription, since names differ.
- Insurance should cover hiking and altitude if you are going to Patagonia or the Atacama, and evacuation if you are going anywhere remote.
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