5 Best Ayahuasca Retreat Australia and Abroad in 2025

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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.

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If you’d like a holistic understanding of your opportunities to improve your quality of life, take this self-diagnostic.

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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.

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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.

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If our recommendations resonate with you, and you'd like to explore a transformational journey with Behold, click on "Begin Your Journey" below to request a complimentary Discovery Call with one of our Medicine Guides.

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Like most things in life, there are a broad variety of Ayahuasca retreat options, and a number of factors that effect the safety, quality, and cost of an ayahuasca retreat:

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1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. ‍‍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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. ‍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.
9. Booking process: Speak with the provider before finalizing your booking. If it’s all online, this may be a strong indicator that the provider is not screening and/or carefully on-boarding their guests. This entire experience should be handled with care from start to finish.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

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Want to gauge your mental and spiritual readiness for an Ayahuasca retreat?  

👉Take this short quiz below

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Given the potential, power, and sensitivity of working with ayahuasca, who you choose to journey with is one of the most important decisions of your life. So, without a doubt, it’s worth taking your time. 

If you're in a position to do so, the best way to go deep with ayahuasca is in a private retreat. If this feels aligned for you, (trust your instincts), you’re welcome to explore an intimate journey with Behold.

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Ayahuasca Retreat Australia

Disclaimer: Ayahuasca and specifically an Ayahuasca Retreat inside Australia is not legal in Australia – yet.

There is definitely the existence of underground Ayahuasca Retreats in Australia. But is the “underground” where you feel safe finding a reputable retreat center with experienced healers?

People who have experienced Ayahuasca often report profound insights, increased self-awareness and a deep connection to Spirit. That being said, this plant medicine can be challenging – it’s not for everyone.

Before committing to an Ayahuasca Retreat, ask plenty of questions and get a feel for the center and the guides. Ayahuasca is not a quick fix, despite what some retreat operators might claim. It’s a powerful medicine that requires respect and preparation.

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If you’re ready to face yourself (and inner self) with humility, vulnerability, and honesty, an Ayahuasca Retreat is the journey of a lifetime, buckle up.

The Top Ayahuasca Retreat Australia or nearby

In Australia, many people have heard about Ayahuasca and are curious about this unique experience that can help you connect with your true self, heal your mind and body, and make profound life changes. The Amazon rainforest in Brazil is definitely a hot spot but there are few places where you can go to try it for yourself.

Here are five retreat facilitators near Australia where you can try ayahuasca:

1. Behold Retreats, Portugal (Let us explain why Portugal)

For those who are seeking an authentic experience in a legal location with a small group of thoroughly-vetted guests, Behold Retreats is a great choice.

Behold does not facilitate Ayahuasca in Australia, but does offer a the closest legal location to Australia, which would be over in Portugal. We understand this perhaps wasn't what you were hoping to see but we encourage you to think how much more secure you would feel in a regulated environment where sacred shamans don't need to live and work behind closed doors. The energy will be different in open and legal locations. Safety is the number one concern that should be focused on regardless of where you choose to attend a Retreat.

Behold's Portugal location is positioned just North of Lisbon in a nature rich area called Quinta Carvalhas. The facilities, the views, the peace, is not something you will take for granted, it is truly stunning.

Past guests have praised Behold for a high level of attention to safety, gorgeous locations, and expertise in guiding the facilitation and integration of Ayahuasca Ceremonies that integrate traditional practices in a context suitable for the Western psyche, and with a high degree of attention and care given to each guest.

Ready to experience ayahuasca in a small group of thoroughly-vetted guests? Get in touch with Behold Retreats here. 

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You may also check out other safe and legal plant medicine retreats in locations such as Costa Rica and Mexico. Click here.