Capt. Santiago Rubio, commander of the port of Santa Cruz, tells The Associated Press that Bezos was on a cruise not far from the island when he felt the stomach pains.

Rubio said Saturday the navy sent doctors to examine Bezos on New Year's Day. The doctors determined that it was a kidney stone attack and Rubio authorized a helicopter to take the Amazon founder and Washington Post owner from the ship.

The captain said Bezos was taken to Santa Cruz port and from there a short flight to Baltra Island where his private jet was waiting to take him to the United States for medical treatment.

A spokesman for Amazon, Drew Herdener, said that Bezos did not require surgery and was feeling well.

He said that Bezos emailed: "Galapagos: five stars. Kidney stones: zero stars."