Travel health · Indonesia
Bali, Java, Komodo and Raja Ampat — one country, and two completely different answers depending on which of them you are actually going to.
The short version
Most travellers to Indonesia need 4 vaccines, and four to six weeks is enough time to do it properly.
Leaving sooner? Most of it can still be done — we prioritise what matters for your route. Nobody gets turned away for booking late.
Recommended for essentially everyone going to Indonesia.
Food and water, and the one vaccine both sources agree on without qualification. CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers aged one and over; the Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers to areas where hepatitis A is present. Warung food and resort buffet alike — the vaccine does not know where you ate.
Any time before you fly. One dose covers the trip; a second, six months later, covers decades.
Both sources now recommend it broadly rather than for long stays only: CDC for unvaccinated travellers of all ages to Indonesia, and the Government of Canada for all travellers. Many Canadians already have it from the school programme — we check rather than assume.
The standard course runs over months, but faster schedules exist. Bring your dates and we will pick one that fits.
Same route as hepatitis A. This is the one where the two official sources part company, and we would rather show you that than pick quietly — see below.
At least two weeks before departure. The oral capsules take a week to finish.
Tetanus, measles-mumps-rubella, polio and diphtheria. CDC asks every traveller to be current before every trip, and specifically asks international travellers to be fully vaccinated against measles at least two weeks before they fly.
Tetanus if it has been more than ten years — which for most adults it has.
The honest answer to “am I too late?” depends on the date. Put yours in and we’ll work backwards. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Worth a conversation — the answer changes with where you’re going and what you’ll be doing.
The full list for Indonesia. Most people need the first two or three; the rest depend on where you are going and for how long.
Spread through contaminated food and water. CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over to Indonesia, and says infants aged 6 to 11 months should also receive a dose before travel — that early dose does not count towards the routine schedule, so it is repeated later. The Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers to areas where hepatitis A is present.
Spread through blood and bodily fluids — which in practice means medical or dental care abroad, tattoos and piercings, and unplanned injuries as much as anything else. CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers of all ages going to Indonesia; the Government of Canada recommends it for all travellers. Many Canadians already have it from the routine school programme, so the first thing we do is check.
Bacterial infection from contaminated food and water. CDC recommends it for most travellers to Indonesia, particularly those staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities and rural areas. The Government of Canada describes it as available and possibly recommended depending on your risk. Injection or oral capsules — the capsules need a week to finish, so they need planning.
CDC asks travellers to be up to date on routine vaccines before every trip, and asks all international travellers to be fully vaccinated against measles at least two weeks before departure. Tetanus is the one that lapses quietly — a coral graze or a scooter spill is the usual reason it comes up here.
CDC advises all eligible travellers to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines. Entry requirements change; we check the current position rather than repeat what was true last season.
Rabies is present in Indonesia and carried by dogs and some wildlife including bats, per the Government of Canada, which lists children, adventure travellers, cave explorers, and anyone in close contact with animals as higher risk. CDC notes increased cases in West Timor. Pre-exposure vaccination does not remove the need for treatment after a bite, but it buys time and simplifies what you need to find abroad.
Mosquito-borne, and mostly a rural and agricultural risk. CDC recommends it for long-term residents, stays of a month or more in areas where it occurs, and activities that raise exposure such as visiting rural areas, hiking or camping. The Government of Canada calls the risk very low for most travellers. Rarely the right answer for two weeks in Bali; a genuine conversation for a season in Java or Sulawesi.
CDC says chikungunya vaccination may be considered for people travelling to or moving to Indonesia who plan to stay for an extended period — six months or more is the example given. For a holiday, mosquito precautions do the work instead.
Honest about the risks, and specific about what prevents each one.
CDC names motor vehicle crashes the number one killer of travellers. In Indonesia that mostly means scooters: rented in minutes, ridden in flip-flops, on roads that do not forgive. Grazes are the most common travel injury we see, and the reason tetanus keeps coming up.
Prevention A proper helmet, not the one thrown in with the rental. Check whether your travel insurance actually covers a motorbike — many policies do not, and a medevac is the bill that ends holidays.
Present across Indonesia and carried by daytime-biting mosquitoes, so the dusk-and-dawn rule people know from malaria does not apply. The Government of Canada notes there is no vaccine or medication available in Canada to prevent it.
Prevention Repellent through the day, not just the evening. Air-conditioned or screened rooms.
Carried by dogs and some wildlife including bats. The temple and forest macaques are the encounter most travellers actually have — a snatched bag, a scratch, a bite that seems minor at the time.
Prevention Do not feed or handle the monkeys, and treat any bite, scratch or lick on broken skin as urgent: wash it for fifteen minutes and get medical advice the same day, vaccinated or not.
The most likely thing to interrupt your trip, and the least dramatic. Contaminated food, water and ice are the usual routes.
Prevention Bottled or boiled water, ice from places you trust, food cooked fresh and hot. We can send you with rehydration salts and, where it is appropriate, a standby antibiotic.
Present in Indonesia. Spread mainly by mosquito bite but also sexually, which matters for couples planning a pregnancy as well as for anyone already pregnant.
Prevention If you are pregnant or trying to conceive, this is worth a proper conversation before you book, not after.
Human cases have been reported in Indonesia. The Government of Canada describes the risk to most travellers as low.
Prevention Avoid live-bird markets and poultry farms; do not touch sick or dead birds.
Several Indonesian volcanoes have ongoing activity. Ash disrupts flights and can cause breathing problems — a bigger deal if you have asthma or another lung condition.
Prevention Carry your inhaler in hand luggage, bring spares, and build slack into tight connections.
Prevented with tablets rather than a vaccine, and only needed for some routes — which is why the answer depends on your itinerary.
NO transmission, per CDC, in Bali’s resort areas, Ubud, Jakarta, the Gili Islands or the Thousand Islands — which covers most Canadian itineraries. Risk IS present in the eastern provinces (Papua, West Papua, Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara), in Labuan Bajo and the Komodo Islands, and in rural Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Lombok, with low transmission in rural parts of Java.
For the risk areas, CDC lists atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine as options. Which one suits you depends on your dates, your other medications and whether you are diving — doxycycline and the sun are not natural allies. Both P. falciparum and P. vivax are present, so the choice is not arbitrary.
The things that prevent most travel illness are not medical.
CDC puts no malaria transmission in Bali’s resort areas, Ubud, Jakarta, the Gili Islands or the Thousand Islands. It does put malaria risk in Labuan Bajo and the Komodo Islands — the jumping-off point for the dragons and the liveaboard boats — as well as Papua, Maluku, East and West Nusa Tenggara, and rural Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra. A Bali-and-Gilis fortnight and a Bali-plus-Komodo fortnight are not the same trip, health-wise. Bring the islands, not just the dates.
CDC recommends typhoid vaccination for most travellers to Indonesia, and especially for anyone staying with friends or relatives or visiting smaller cities and rural areas. The Government of Canada is looser: a vaccine is available and may be recommended for some travellers, depending on individual risk. We tell you both and then talk about what you are actually doing. For most Indonesian itineraries our pharmacist lands closer to CDC, because the food is the point of the trip.
The Government of Canada’s overall advice for Indonesia is to exercise a high degree of caution, with regional advisories. It advises against non-essential travel to the Papua provinces — with the Raja Ampat Regency islands and the city of Sorong excepted — because of violent incidents and the risk of kidnapping. If you are diving Raja Ampat, that exception is the part to read carefully. It is a safety question rather than a vaccine one, but it overlaps the malaria map, so read it before you book.
The Government of Canada lists several Indonesian volcanoes with ongoing activity and notes that ash disrupts air travel and can cause breathing problems. If you use an inhaler, bring more than you think you need and keep it in your day bag rather than your checked luggage. It is the least exotic advice on this page and the one most likely to matter.
Most people booking a travel consult with us are sorting out a household, not just themselves. A few things are different for children.
Bring the whole household to the same consultation. We review each person’s records separately but plan the trip as one, which usually means fewer visits and no repeated explanations. Tell us how many people when you book so we set aside the time.
CDC recommends hepatitis A vaccination for unvaccinated travellers aged one year and over, and says infants aged 6 to 11 months should also receive a dose before travelling to Indonesia. That earlier dose does not count towards the routine schedule, so it is repeated later.
The Government of Canada lists children among the people at higher risk of rabies exposure. Small children approach animals, are less likely to mention a scratch, and are more often bitten on the face or hands. Around Bali’s temple macaques that is not a theoretical point. Worth discussing per child rather than per family.
CDC recommends it for unvaccinated travellers of all ages to Indonesia and the Government of Canada for all travellers — broader than the older "long stays only" advice. Many Canadian children already have it from the school programme; we check rather than assume.
Any immunisation records you can find, for each traveller. Alberta records we can often look up; out-of-province and overseas records we cannot. A photo of a yellow card is plenty.
No. CDC lists no malaria transmission in Bali’s resort areas, Ubud, Jakarta, the Gili Islands or the Thousand Islands. If Bali and the Gilis are the whole trip, malaria tablets are not part of the conversation.
It is, and this is the one that catches people out. CDC puts malaria risk in Labuan Bajo and the Komodo Islands, which is exactly where the dragon tours and liveaboard boats depart from. Adding three days in Komodo to a Bali holiday changes the answer. Tell us the islands, not just the country.
For most short holidays, no — but it is a real conversation rather than a formality. Rabies is present in Indonesia in dogs and some wildlife including bats, and the Government of Canada names children, adventure travellers and anyone in close contact with animals as higher risk. If you are travelling with small children, staying a long time, cycling, or spending time around the temple macaques, we would talk it through properly. Either way, any bite or scratch needs washing for fifteen minutes and same-day medical advice.
It is real and it is common. The mosquitoes that carry it bite during the day, which is why people who were careful at dinner still get it. There is no vaccine or medication available in Canada to prevent it, so repellent through the day is genuinely the plan rather than a fallback.
Not if you are flying from Canada. Both CDC and the Government of Canada say yellow fever vaccination is not recommended for Indonesia. Proof is required only if you are arriving from a country with yellow fever risk — so if your route goes through Africa or South America, tell us the whole itinerary.
No. Hepatitis A gives useful protection quickly and can be given right up to departure, and a tetanus booster can be given the same day. Some things — the Japanese encephalitis course, a full hepatitis B series — will not finish before you fly, and we will tell you honestly which. One well-chosen vaccine beats none.
Yes, and most families do. We review each person’s records separately but plan the trip as one visit. Tell us how many are travelling when you book so we set the time aside. Hepatitis A can be given from twelve months, and CDC says infants aged 6 to 11 months should have a dose before travelling to Indonesia.
Nothing. The travel consultation is free — a full itinerary review, every recommended vaccine discussed, and advice for your particular trip. You pay only for the vaccines actually given.
Bring your travel dates. A pharmacist will go through what you need for Indonesia, give what can be given that day, and book anything that needs a second dose. No doctor referral, no wait list.
Written from current CDC and Government of Canada guidance, checked 30 July 2026. Advice for your particular trip comes from our pharmacist, in person.
Imagine Health Pharmacy & Travel Clinic — #4120, 15 Sunpark Plaza SE, Calgary, Alberta. In Sunpark Plaza, off Macleod Trail, serving Sundance, Midnapore, Shawnessy, Chaparral and the rest of south Calgary.
No doctor’s referral is needed. In Alberta a pharmacist can assess you, prescribe what your trip needs and give the vaccines in the same visit — so for most travellers this is one appointment, not a clinic queue and then a pharmacy.
The vaccine guidance on this page follows the official recommendations below, read and applied by a pharmacist. Where the two differ we say so rather than pick one.
Checked against both sources on 30 July 2026. Official advice changes — if your trip is months away, check again or ask us.
