Santorini Healthcare and Protection

Here’s a complete guide with health and safety tips to follow during your vacations in Santorini.

It’s time for your holidays on the heavenly island of Santorini and you can’t wait to meet all the prominent sights. But, safety comes first!

This guide aims to provide you with all the necessary knowledge to be prepared against emergencies or health-related issues. From healthcare facilities, and emergency contact details, to helpful hints for staying safe in Santorini's climatic conditions, it ensures that you will be more than prepared for any arising health-related situation.

Medical Services in Santorini

The island of Santorini is one of the most famous islands of the Aegean, with many people choosing it for prolonged vacations. Therefore, it is quite well-organized in order to cover all the health issues that one might face.

In case of an injury or other health problem, there are several medical institutions and rural health clinics in different villages of the island, that someone can address for help. The most important is that there is a General Hospital located in Karterados village, a little outside Fira town, the capital of Santorini. The hospital operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, including well-equipped facilities and experienced doctors who provide the best treatment and attention to all their patients.

Another smaller but more well-known and convenient medical center is the Central Clinic of Santorini, located in the central town of Fira. The clinic operates 24 hours a day and its professional personnel is always prepared to face all kinds of emergencies. Moreover, it offers the service of doctor visits, in case patients are unable to reach the clinic themselves.

Apart from these two medical institutions, there are several health and first aid stations in other villages of Santorini. Specifically, health stations can be found in Emporio, Kamari, Pyrgos, and Oia villages, as well as Therasia Island. What is more, there are various private doctors and pharmacies in every part of Santorini island, that someone can contact easily.

The most important to know is that in case of an emergency, the phone number that you need to call is 112. You can call either from a fixed or a mobile phone, to request an ambulance or the help of the fire brigade or the police.

Useful information before visiting Santorini

While getting ready for your first visit to the beautiful island of Santorini, it’s good to know what to be aware of, so that your vacations on the island will be as safe and relaxing as you have imagined! Here are some useful health tips and information for your Santorini holidays:

1. Enjoy the Greek sun safely

Feel the warmth of the sun during your summer holidays in Santorini

During the summer months, the island gets an amazing 13 hours of sun every day, with temperatures reaching up to 37°C degrees in August. Moreover, the Ultraviolet Radiation Index on Santorini is almost consistently around 9-10, with the highest rates in June and July. This means that if someone gets prolonged exposure to the sun, they are at a high risk of harming their skin and eyes.

Many are the tourists, who are not used to that high temperatures and levels of UV Index, and yet spend a large part of the day under the sun, ending in getting a sunstroke or sunburnt. If you do not wish to have such an incident that will ruin your summer holidays, make sure that you are always protected by the sun. The constant use of a high-factor sunscreen, along with a hat and sunglasses, will surely protect you! Moreover, avoid staying under the direct sun during the hours when the sun is at its highest position. Choose to take a long lunch at a shaded restaurant or stay under the protection of your umbrella, when spending your day at the beach.

2. Food safety in Santorini

Taste the flavorsome Greek cuisine in one of the beautiful restaurants of the Caldera

While Greece attracts thousands of people every year mostly because of the hot and sunny weather, we cannot disagree that Greek cuisine is also totally worth trying. The Mediterranean cooking style and the high-quality Greek ingredients cannot be found elsewhere.

In terms of food safety, especially in Santorini, food poisoning is a rare event and it is not something that one visiting the island should be concerned about. Cooked food on the island can be found in nice restaurants and street bars and not in street vendors, so feel free to try whatever you like!

3. Drinking water

Santorini Island has no source of natural drinking water. Although during the last years, seawater desalination plants have been installed and some of the houses on the island are connected to drinkable tap water, 50% of them are not connected to any water system. Moreover, there are homes that have installed large tanks on their roofs and rely entirely on the delivery of fresh water.

This means that when on the island, it is recommended that you do not rely on tap water for drinking but always purchase bottled water. Even if the place you are staying at is connected to the desalination system, the locals advise that you choose bottled water, as the taste of tap water is not very pleasant.

However, tap water can be used for washing up, brushing your teeth, or cooking. For cooking, it is especially safe if it is going to be boiled. Generally, bottled water is the safest choice during your stay on the island.

4. Drive with safety

Driving on the roads of Santorini

Santorini is usually very crowded, especially during the high season months, which means that in the central parts of the island, some roads can be very busy. Most people are worried about driving on the island, as they believe that it is not safe due to the high number of vehicles on the roads.

Driving in Santorini is not difficult, as long as you take some facts into consideration. Santorini is a small island with many villages, which means that in some parts the roads are narrow, as there used to be donkey paths. So, it is better to park your vehicle a little outside the village you wish to visit and continue on foot from there. Moreover, as in all the islands in Greece, keep in mind that there are no traffic lights on the roads, so drive with caution and follow the road signs.

If you are planning to rent an ATV/Quad, be extra careful, as these types of vehicles are a little unstable and you are at risk of losing control in turns, especially when driving at high speed.

Now that you have all the useful medical information and safety tips about Santorini, it’s time to just relax and enjoy your vacation on this beautiful island!