10 Best Ayahuasca Retreats 2024 (Safe & Legal)

[component-one]

For deeper insights into what makes up a safe and quality plant medicine retreat, check out the results from our recent plant medicine retreats survey.
‍

Or perhaps, prior to the plant medicine approach, you would like a holistic understanding of your opportunities to improve your quality of life, take this self-diagnostic.

‍

If this is your first time with Ayahuasca, this short quiz will help you assess your level of mental, emotional, and spiritual readiness for this powerful and sensitive work.

‍

If you’d like to understand more about the nature of psychedelic healing work, human potential, and who and what you really are, watch the video below.

‍
{cta-blog-small-1}
‍

{{btn-begin-your-journey="/utility/components"}}

‍

[component-two]

‍

Like most things in life, there are a broad variety of Ayahuasca retreat options all over the world, and a lot factors which effect safety, quality, and cost of such a transformational Ayahuasca Retreat:

‍

Safety First: Unfortunately, many small retreat centers are not in a position to make meaningful investments into screening and safety. Even if you're fine, someone else on retreat might not be, which can affect the overall experience. Our recommendation is to choose a retreat provider that does in-depth conversational, medical, and psychological screening to protect your safety and well-being.

Legality: Experienced practitioners who have dedicated their lives to plant medicine typically live in locations where the work is legal, so they don't have to live in a state of uncertainty about their work Our recommendation is to travel to legal locations where you can benefit from legitimate healers who operate above the radar, so you can truly relax on retreat.

Size of the group: It's common for retreats to have 20, 50, even 100 people in ceremony, which can be chaotic to say the least. In such large groups you are less likely to receive a sufficient level of attention from the facilitators. Our recommendation is to choose a retreat with an intimate group, in the range of 8-15 people.

Length of the retreat: Shorter retreats feel rushed, do not support the cultivation of meaningful relationships, and can limit what can be achieved in time available. We recommend you spend at least a week for an ayahuasca retreat to give your mind, body, heart, and soul the attention it deserves.

‍‍Comfort: We recommend you choose a retreat where you are confident that you will be physically comfortable and have your own private bedroom to decompress and integrate, especially if this is your first time. Go for the full jungle mosquito immersion another time, your future self will thank you later.

Alignment: Select a retreat that feels aligned with your values and allows your own subjective experience to unfold naturally. There are many different worldviews out there and having a different worldview pushed on you through the retreat may not be in your highest healing interests. This is also particularly relevant for first-timers.

Holistic approach: Work with an organization that takes a holistic approach to working with plant medicine, and has options to support and guide your mental and emotional evolution alongside a retreat. If a provider implies that "medicine will solve all your problems", proceed with caution.

‍Service: Select a retreat that you believe can meet your individual needs. Are you being treated as a human, or as participant #22 in their fourth retreat this month? Consider whether or not they've taken the time to get to know you and understand you, or it's more of a take it or leave it retreat center.

Booking process: Take the time to speak with the provider before finalizing your booking. If the provider does not have a screening process in place during the booking process anyone could be sitting next to you in ceremony. Some people are not in the right place to work with this powerful plant medicine, and it is the responsibility of the organizers to ensure that only people who can handle ayahuasca are accepted onto the retreat.

Expertise: Find an organization that emphasizes healing, and you believe has the breadth and depth of expertise to guide your transformation. Look for facilitators and healers who have a lightness of being and a sparkle in their eyes. Healing work is all about the transmutation of energy, so you are looking for people who have the energy you aspire to. If they aren't able to keep their energy right, that tells you quite a bit about either where they are at and their capabilities.

Reputation: At a minimum, Google the provider, you may be surprised by what you find. If there's not much information, that is also information. A reputable retreat center will have a professional online presence with testimonials from previous retreat attendees. This is essential for you to see that they are a legitimate organization who you can trust to contain this powerful experience.

Volunteers: Please support ethical plant medicine work by selecting an organization that pay their team. Unfortunately, it is common practice for retreat centers to cycle through young, eager, and worn out volunteers and/or not pay healers fairly. If the people supporting your retreat aren't living their best lives , they're not going to be able to lead you to yours. Don't be shy to ask this question directly when you speak to prospective centers.

‍

[component-ten]
‍

Looking for more guidance for one of the most important decisions of your life? 

Watch this video.

‍

‍

{{btn-begin-your-journey="/utility/components"}}

‍

Ayahuasca, the sacred plant medicine from the Amazon, otherwise known as the “vine of the soul”, is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream western culture, resulting in the recent boom in Ayahuasca tourism around the world. 

Can this psychoactive plant really heal our minds, body, and spirit?

The mystery of ayahuasca shamanism has quickly entered the western mainstream, with notable research institutions around the world diving into the nature of spirituality, mystical experiences, and self-healing discovered through this expanded state of consciousness. Studies have shown positive results in healing psychological trauma, potentially curing modern addictions to drugs & alcohol, and even increasing creativity and mindfulness.

Amazonian shamans call it the “plant teacher”, or “Mother Ayahuasca” as she teaches you what you need to know - whether you want to see it or not. 

We guess you're reading this because Mama Ayahuasca has called to you that it's time to begin your spiritual journey towards understanding, healing, and growing. Despite her calling, we're here to understand - Do you feel ready to join a spiritual retreat? Do you feel ready to let it all go? Do you feel ready to breathe again?

Since you're still reading, we assume you think you're ready. Still that isn't enough. If you're really looking and feeling ready for an Ayahuasca Retreat, there are still a number of factors we ask you to strongly consider.

Choosing an Ayahuasca Retreat from the hundreds out there can be daunting, especially as you've already got so much on your plate. All retreat centers are rated as five-stars (of-course), and reading thousands of Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews and Testimonials won’t necessarily provide you with the answers you’re looking for. 

It's important to consider who the Ayahuasca Shaman will be, whether or not you even want to have a shamanic healing experience, how many people will be in the Ayahuasca Ceremony, and how the medicinal plant will be brewed - just to name a few.

Do you want the Ayahuasca center to be in historically rich Portugal, or in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle? Do you want to work with a specific tradition (e.g. Shipibo healer) during your retreat experience? 

Taking on such a life-changing decision can be so magical and has been proven time and time again to be the biggest positive change one can choose for themselves. But you must be ready and you must be at peace with your decision. Have a look through some video testimonials of past guests and see if anything resonates with you.

If you're still reading and feeling really ready for this big shift in your life, want to be guided by experts, you're coachable, and you're committed to doing the necessary mental and emotional work, apply for a free general consultation here.

More broadly, we've curated a list of diverse international week-long retreat options for the nature lover and modern luxury lover alike. There may be weekend retreats out there, however we strongly urge you to take your time here. Your breakthrough will not come in one hour, it will take days, maybe months for you to see the light you've been searching for, take time, be patient with yourself, this is the time to put yourself first.

We have also done all the research for you regarding safety and quality, listing some of the best Ayahuasca Retreats in the world, from intensive Ayahuasca healing retreats, to amazon jungle Ayahuasca Retreats in Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal, etc. 

Want some help selecting a great ayahuasca retreat? Check out our guide here.

To learn more about how to get the deeper breakthroughs that are possible, and how to sustain more benefits from plant medicine, watch our webinar here.

‍

Top 10 Ayahuasca Retreats 2024

Best Ayahuasca Retreats Worldwide (Keep Reading)

‍

1. Behold Retreats Ayahuasca Retreats ‍

Locations: Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal

Behold Retreats will facilitate a bespoke the highest quality healing Ayahuasca Journey for you in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Portugal. They completely curate and tailor each experience for the needs of each individual retreat participant and only operate in legal and safe counties.

Whether you want to have a private experience in a luxurious villa overlooking the ocean in Costa Rica, on the beach in Mexico, immersed in the depths of  the Amazon rain forest, or a group retreat in a stunning sacred space in the Europe, Behold will design an experience fit for you.

With a core group of high-quality healers and facilitators, all of whom have been leading Ayahuasca Ceremonies for decades, and world-class medical protocols and screening processes adopted from expert advisors and research institutions, you are sure to be in good hands.

What makes Behold Retreats stand out further is their one-of-a-kind, 7-week Ayahuasca Retreat and Coaching program designed to elevate your consciousness before and after as well as tread carefully with the pre and post integration practices of your Ayahuasca Journey. Lead by two coaches who have guided over 1,500+ clients, Behold's coaching program takes all the diverse and necessary elements to help you release lower-level emotions and energy blockages, unlock your limiting beliefs, enhance your meta-cognition, and embody your future self. 

The program entails 3 weeks of remote coaching before your Ayahuasca (Bufo or Psilocybin) Ceremony and 3 weeks post-retreat for the ultimate integration. These transformational and healing tools are yours for life. 

Apply for a free consultation call here.

‍

‍

2. Private Ayahuasca Retreat

Location: World wide

If you’re looking to have the ultimate transformational spiritual healing journey, you might want to consider attending a private ayahuasca retreat. We consider this to be the deepest and most profound breakthroughs usually coming from working 1-1 with a plant medicine healer, where you can really focus on your journey and be supported in every context. No external energies, just you and your beautiful path.

The possibilities for your Ayahuasca Experience are endless... whether you would like to experience the Ayahuasca Ceremony on a beach in Tulum, or somewhere in South America within the nature-rich rainforest such as Costa Rica, a private option provides more flexibility than a traditional week-long plant medicine retreat (such as curating a weekend retreats if needed).

You can find facilitators who are experts in not only Ayahuasca Medicine, but also the master plant Ayahuasca dieta to enrich your experience further, or even combine it with a yoga retreat. 

Sourcing a private healers or for example a Shipibo shaman or other Andean shaman, is typically more difficult than finding a retreat center. Private facilitators usually do not have the availability to keep up with the demand, and so the price point here is much higher than a group retreat. 

We recommend enlisting guidance from a company such as Behold Retreats for your Ayahuasca Experience, who curates private retreats with top-quality facilitators, healers, coaches and therapists. To organize a world-class private experience for you, your and your close circle, or perhaps an organization, please share a few details here and let's connect.

3. Resonance Ayahuasca Retreat

Location: Esterillos, Costa Rica

A top favorite is Resonance centers in Costa Rica. Offering a choice of top luxury as well as relaxed and eco-friendly ayahuasca retreat options, Resonance does not skip out on safety screenings or the assurance of safe and legally guided retreats.

Discover the upmost serenity and transformation on Esterillo Beach in the pristine beachfront in Costa Rica. Mindfulness practices, luxurious accommodations, and nourishing cuisine await you at one of our personal favorite retreat centers. Lush rainforests meet the tranquil shores for a rejuvenating ayahuasca experience.

Week Retreat Includes: 7-day Retreat options, Luxurious Accommodations, 3-Nights of Ceremony, Delicious Dieta Meals, Beautiful Tropical Scenery, Yoga classes, Experienced Facilitators, Pre Retreat Dietary Protocol.

‍

4. Wasiwaska Ayahuasca Retreat

Location: Santa Catarina, Brazil

Doubling in research and experience, this center is for the seeker who wants to exchange ideas on consciousness, creativity, sciences and the arts, history, myth and spirituality. This center was conceived as an educational organization, and is also known as the Research Center for the study of Psychointegrator Plants, Visionary Art and Consciousness. 

Located in the northern part of the island of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, on a hill overlooking the ocean and immersed by Atlantic coastal forest, you will find the center with a quiet beach nearby. It is also surrounded by an ethnobotanical garden with fruit trees and medicinal plants for you to explore such as the psychotria or coca leaf plant. 

Your meals will come fresh, straight from the vegetable garden in accordance with your ayahuasca diet. You will have the chance to explore their 4000 book library in your spare time. Feel at home with hammocks, fireplaces, gardens, and many corners for introspection. 

With their impressive advisory board, consisting of numerous doctors, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and psychologists, you can rest assured that you will be in safe hands on your healing journey. 

‍

5. Soltara Ayahuasca Retreat

Location: Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica 

Completely immersed in nature, on seaside cliffs overlooking the pristine turquoise waters of the Gulf of Nicoya, sits the luxurious Soltara healing center. You can be comforted knowing you are in good hands with the indigenous Peruvian Shipibo female and male healers, as well as a highly experienced preparation and integration support team who have a foot in both Western and traditional medicine practices. 

With luxury accommodations in either shared or private rooms, a relaxing spa, and options for yoga, breathwork, bodywork, and creative expression, their ayahuasca retreat guests are sure to have an incredible experience during their spiritual awakening.  

They go the extra mile to provide high-quality videos, informative content, and educational resources as well as a strong community aspect to help you integrate and continue healing post-retreat. When it comes to safety, they have a qualified first-responder on-site at their center, as well as a 24-hour clinic nearby. 

Your ayahuasca experience at Soltara will be one of the best in the world!

6. Etnikas Ayahuasca Retreat‍

Location: Cusco, Peru

Located in Taray, Sacred Valley of the Incas, only a two hour drive from Machu Picchu and one hour drive from Cusco, Entikas is one of the best Peruvian ayahuasca retreats. Their beautiful retreat center is surrounded by the high Andean Mountains and native forest, creating a calm and relaxing environment in nature. They feature 3-7 day retreats with the option to visit Machu Picchu. 

They work with highly experienced plant medicine male and female healers from the Shipibo tribe in the Amazon, and Inca healers from the Qero tribe in the high Andes Mountains who brew the ayahuasca tea and guide the healing ceremony. With over 40 years experience, this authentic retreat is perfect for first-timers, as well as those wanting to connect with Peruvian indigenous cultures.

They take extra caution and safety measures after one of their previous participants passed away (caused by mixing medications and recreational drugs). They now have a general practitioner, psychiatrist, psychologist, cardiologist, and shaman on-site to ensure you are taken care of physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Their accommodation is humble, and rooms can be shared with up to three people. If you are interested in volunteering in one of their projects focused on animal rescue, environmental conservation, and social/community development, there are ample opportunities. 

‍

Looking for a great retreat to heal, find peace, and live your purpose? Request a complimentary Discovery Call.

‍

7. Gaia Sagrada Ayahuasca Retreat‍

Location: Cuenca, Ecuador

Gaia Sagrada is a popular choice for ayahuasca journeyers thanks to their certified and authentic shamans who will lead your ayahuasca ceremony.  With above average accommodations including wifi, hot showers, hot tubs, and a sauna. Nestled in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, this ayahuasca healing center sits on 55 acres of pristine land with fresh mountain air, calm pastures and gardens, and natural forests. It is safe to say that the views are breathtaking. 

They ensure a strong, pure ayahuasca brew, consisting solely of the banisteriopsis caapi vine and chacruna leaves, with no additives. You will have consistent guidance throughout the ceremony from beginning to end by their shamans, and as the center is run by a woman, extra precautions are taken against sexual abuse towards women. 

This healing retreat is also an eco-friendly community and uses processes such as permaculture, sustainable gardening and solar heating. 

‍

8. Casa De Sol

Location: Sacred Valley of San Pedro Vilcabamba, Ecuador 

If you’re looking for a holistic sanctuary with multiple healing modalities to help facilitate your plant medicine journey, this is the retreat you’re looking for! Led by certified Curanderos (healers) from Ecuador and Peru with more than 20 years experience, they weave together the rich traditions of North Native American and South American lineages to awaken your spirit. 

You will begin your journey in the sacred sweat lodge, and have multiple opportunities for integration sharing circles. Those looking for an adventure and a range of activities will surely be excited by the options at Casa De Sol. 

You will be able to choose from breathtaking hikes into the mountains and waterfalls, meditation, breathwork, yoga, Qigong, Kirtan chanting, and mudra classes, as well as therapeutic art workshops such as voice activation and ecstatic dance.

There is also the option to add in a San Pedro healing ceremony and additional physical therapeutics to relax in between ceremonies, including IV vitamin and mineral infusions, chiropractic therapy, lymphatic drainage, womb healing, energetic healing, and much more. 

And if that wasn’t enough, you will have the option to attend a spiritual reading session, cool down in the river, or take a day to explore the town and visit local craft shops and cafes in the tranquil Vilcabamba square - all while enjoying organic, home-cooked meals grown from local farmers and their own garden. 

‍

9. Ocean’s Forest Ecolodge Ayahuasca Retreat

Location: Oso Peninsula, Costa Rica

This magical eco-lodge, which sits at the edge of the forest and the ocean, boasts rich and vibrant wildlife, stunning sea views and vast botanical diversity, allowing you to connect deeply with Mother Earth during your 7 or 10 day retreat. 

What makes this retreat extra special is the facilitator and ethnobotanist Jonathon Miller Weisberger, author of “Rainforest Medicine”,  who will help you discover the treasures of the natural world around you, teach you about plant medicines and, alongside his experienced team, guide you through at least 4 Ayahuasca ceremonies. Typically most retreat centers offer 3 ayahuasca ceremonies, so you can really expect to go deeper at this retreat. 

For those who love the outdoors and want an authentic nature immersion experience, this ayahuasca retreat is perfect for you. With the nearest town a 20 minute walk along the beach, prepare to relax into total stillness and harmony with nature. Your private room will come with full or partial ocean views, an en-suite bathroom, and the ocean breeze to cool you down. 

You will have the opportunity for group integration and art therapy sessions in between ceremonies to help you solidify and clarify your experiences. Join daily yoga sessions, take rejuvenating, aura-cleansing baths with medicinal flowers, walk for miles on pristine beaches and snorkel through the turquoise waters.

Depending on the time of year, on-site there will be a psychedelic integration therapist and yoga teacher, who can provide extra support as needed, as well as an astrologer to give cosmic insights. They even grow their own ayahuasca vine on their property.

‍

‍

10. Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreat‍

Location: Ilheus, Brazil

Spirit Vine is a non-profit ayahuasca retreat center, surrounded by lush jungle in the magical Atlantic forest together with the stunning beaches of the Atlantic ocean. You will love their bungalow accommodations with breath-taking views, while you enjoy spiritual workshops, yoga sessions, and healthy vegan and vegetarian meals. They even grow their Ayahuasca organically on their land! 

What makes this ayahuasca retreat so unique is the workshops created by the co-founder, Silvia Polivoy, a licensed psychologist who has been working with ayahuasca and altered states of consciousness for 25 over years, combining shamanic techniques and western methods. 

With these tools she created an effective method for spiritual development, healing, and ayahuasca integration. By helping to remove energetic blockages and get in touch with the spirit realm, her methods are life-long tools that you can take home with you to continue your transformation. 

‍

11. (Bonus!) Hummingbird Healing Center

Location: Iquitos, Peru 

The highlight of this ayahuasca retreat is the unique combination of traditional Amazonian shamanism, lifestyle coaching and compassionate and loving support throughout the healing process. Discussions on how the influence of belief systems and social conditioning affects the mind and are stored in the subconscious mind are held during the retreat. 

This form of discourse directly complements ayahuasca’s ability to reveal these unconscious beliefs and release them. This focus on mindfulness and altering our thought patterns is an incredible asset to make the most out of your experience. 

The retreat center is found on 42 acres of beautiful tropical forest in the Amazon basin and offers 9 or 12 day retreats accommodated to fit your personal needs. The ceremonies are led by a maestro with over 43 years of experience, and ceremonies are limited to no more than 12 people, prioritizing your safety and comfort during the healing experience. 

You will find many areas to relax, garden paths to get lost in, a swimming pond to cool down in, fully stocked bookcases to learn more about healing plants and other topics, and art supplies to express your experiences through painting or drawing. 

Hummingbird also offers personalized ayahuasca healing retreats from 2-4 weeks for those looking to go deeper or whose condition needs longer treatment for healing. During this retreat you will experience the master plant diet.  They also work with huachuma, otherwise known as San Pedro, the visionary and heart opening cactus, which also contains many healing properties. 

‍

‍