5 Best Ayahuasca Retreats In Hawaii (Updated 2023)

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

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2. 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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3. 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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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: 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.
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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Looking for a little more guidance for one of the most important decisions of your life? Watch this video.

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Ayahuasca is an herbal medicine that has been used for centuries by indigenous people in the Amazon region. The active ingredient in ayahuasca is DMT, which is a powerful psychedelic substance. Ayahuasca retreats have become popular in recent years, as more people are seeking out alternative methods of healing and self-exploration.

While ayahuasca is legal in some countries, it is not legal in the United States. This means that if you want to experience an ayahuasca retreat, you will need to travel to another country. There are many reputable ayahuasca retreat centers in South America, where the medicine is legal.

If you are considering an ayahuasca retreat, you should do your research and choose a reputable center. There are many scams and fake ayahuasca retreats out there, so it is important to be careful. Make sure you read reviews and talk to people who have been on an ayahuasca retreat before making your decision.
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1. Behold Retreats - Costa Rica & Portugal.

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If you’re looking for an ayahuasca retreat that provides an intimate setting with no more than ten people in a group, look no further than Behold Retreats. While Behold does not have any ayahuasca retreats within the US, it does have options if you feel like hopping on a plane and experiencing your ayahuasca ceremony in picturesque Costa Rica.

The island is known for its spectacular beauty, and participants often remark that they were glad they were able to go through the ayahuasca process in a new environment that is profoundly conducive to healing.

Behold Retreats offer ayahuasca retreats in a “safe, legal, and luxurious environment.” Their retreats include education, therapy/coaching, travel to the retreat, and integration.

Behold also has plant medicine ceremonies in Mexico, offering 5-MeO-DMT in and Psilocybin retreats in the Netherlands.

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Want to experience Ayahausca in a small group of thoroughly-vetted guests? We would love to speak with you.

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Check out our upcoming ayahuasca retreats in Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

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2. Muaisa Hale Pule. Hawaii

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This retreat center, located on the Kona Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, holds ceremonies that are similar to an ayahuasca ceremony every Sunday. The ceremony starts at dusk and lasts until around midnight.

Muaisa Hale Pule does not use ayahausca in their ceremonies but instead incorporates indigenous Hawaiian and Pacific island entheogens. It is said that these medicinal plants promote profound healing, causing participants to experience heart-openings and shifts in their consciousness.

Their website does not state precisely which entheogens their plant medicine consists of due to concerns that if information on the plants became widely known, their use would become problematic legally.

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3. Arkana Spiritual Center. Peru, Mexico and Costa Rica

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This organization offers a variety of ayahuasca retreats in the Amazon, Sacred Valley in the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu, and private retreats in Peru, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Their main retreat center is on the banks of the Ucayali River, 4 hours from Iquitos. Their ayahuasca retreats last from between 7 to 21 days.

Their website stresses that ayahuasca is not a recreational drug and should be used respectfully. Other medicinal plant offerings include Sapo (Bufo Alvarius), Rape, San Pedro and Kambo.

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4. Soltara Healing Center, Costa Rica and Peru

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This healing retreat center has three locations: Playa Blanca in Costa Rica, Sugar Beach in Costa Rica, and Tarapoto in Peru. Soltara’s mission is “to bridge this gap between head and heart for those who seek it.” They hope that by doing the healing work that is so essential, especially in today’s society, participants can “journey back home.” Once the inner work is well underway, self-healers can serve themselves, their communities, and Mother Earth more effectively.

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5. New Life Ayahuasca, Costa Rica

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This ayahuasca retreat has one or two dates per month available at their healing center. New Life’s shaman, Matthew, has been working with plant medicine since 2013 and training since 2015. He has completed hundreds of ceremonies and now incorporates chanting and instruments within the ceremonies.

New life has six private rooms and three shared rooms. There is a maximum of 14 participants at each ceremony, as New Life believes that smaller groups are essential for the intimacy of the ayahuasca experience.

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