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Ayahuasca retreats in Costa Rica
Tolerated in Costa RicaAyahuascaJid flag: Tolerated (Costa Rica) · checked 6 Oct 2026

Soltara Healing Center

Playa Blanca and Scarlet Valley, Puntarenas

All-inclusive ayahuasca retreat centre working with Indigenous Shipibo healers from Peru, with two Costa Rican locations: a seaside site at Playa Blanca on the Gulf of Nicoya and a ridge-top site at Scarlet Valley.

Details from the centre's own website and independent sources, read 28 Sep 2026. The centre also answered our questions by email on 14 Aug 2026; those answers are attributed to it and not verified.

Enquire about Soltara Healing CenterFree, and nothing is booked on your behalf.

Worth knowing

  • Getting there, as the centre describes it (read 29 Oct 2026): guests fly into San Jose (SJO) and stay the night before at the Fairfield hotel, where a Soltara discount includes the airport shuttle and breakfast. A group shuttle leaves the hotel on day 1 and brings guests back there on departure day. (Soltara retreat dates)

The legal position in Costa Rica

Law 8204 controls DMT but does not name ayahuasca or the plants it is made from. On 27 January 2025 the Ministry of Health warned that ayahuasca and ibogaine products have no sanitary registration and are not authorised for therapeutic use, noted that DMT is a controlled substance, and advised against advertising them. There is no licensing regime for retreats, so centres operate in a legal grey area rather than on a clear legal basis.

The sources for this
  • Ley 8204 is Costa Rica's framework law on narcotics, psychotropic substances, unauthorised drugs and related activities. It is administered with the Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas. (Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas, current page; Transnational Institute (copy of statute), 2001)
  • On 27 January 2025 the Ministerio de Salud issued a health warning. It said ayahuasca and ibogaine products lack sanitary registration and are not authorised for therapeutic use, that DMT is on the international and national lists of controlled substances, that any product based on ayahuasca or ibogaine must comply with national control and registration rules, and it advised against advertising them. (Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, 27 Jan 2025)
  • Writing in La Republica on 5 February 2025, lawyer Herman Duarte argued that neither Banisteriopsis caapi nor Psychotria viridis is on the prohibited lists behind Costa Rican drug law, and called for explicit regulation of retreat centres, which he says currently operate in a legal gap. (La Republica (Costa Rica), 5 Feb 2025)

The law and every listed centre in Costa Rica

Programmes and cost

ProgrammeLengthSessionsFrom
5-night retreat

Starting price on the retreats page; varies by accommodation tier. The centre says Green Season (June-October) rates are lower.

5 nights3$3,975as published on 28 Oct 2026
7-night retreat

Starting price on the retreats page; varies by accommodation tier. The centre says Green Season (June-October) rates are lower.

7 nights4$4,275as published on 28 Oct 2026
12-night retreat (Playa Blanca only)

Starting price on the retreats page, up to 7 ceremonies; varies by accommodation tier.

12 nights7$6,900as published on 28 Oct 2026

Prices and formats as published by the operator on the date shown. They change, so confirm directly before budgeting. We never estimate a price that is not published.

Included, as published

  • All ceremonies with Peruvian Shipibo maestros, and healer consultations with a translator present
  • All meals: ayahuasca-friendly, locally sourced and organic
  • Accommodation across a range of tiers, with private or shared bathrooms
  • Group shuttle both ways between the partner airport hotel in San Jose and the centre, including the ferry crossing for Playa Blanca
  • Intake screening with therapists and medical advisors
  • Integration workshops, sharing circles and flower baths prepared by the healers
  • Yoga, pranayama breathwork, sound bowl and meditation sessions
  • One 50-minute 1:1 preparation session and one 50-minute 1:1 integration session
  • A year of Soltara Plus membership on the Nectara platform, three months of weekly integration emails and monthly circles with a Soltara therapist
  • A lifetime 10% discount on return visits

Screening, as the centre describes it

Site describes an intake form, intake call and an intake process with therapists and medical advisors; states an onsite health clinic with doctor's office. Medication (read 2026-10-03): "Most places [including Soltara] feel that it is safer to stop using SSRIS 2 to 4 weeks before, and consider this part of the dieta to be followed."

The cited ayahuasca safety facts to check it against

Accommodation

  • Playa Blanca: oceanfront on seaside cliffs on the Gulf of Nicoya, with two semi-private beaches
  • Scarlet Valley: mountain site on a protected biological corridor near Carara National Park, with saltwater pool, gym and spa

What a ayahuasca retreat involves

The typical shape of this kind of programme. Use it as a checklist to ask against, not as this centre's timetable.

  1. Before arrivalMedical and psychiatric screening, and a dieta, commonly restricting alcohol, recreational drugs, pork, fermented foods, salt and sugar, and sexual activity. SSRIs and MAOIs must be resolved with a clinician well in advance.
  2. Day 1Arrival, orientation, one-to-one consultation with the healers, intention setting. No ceremony.
  3. Ceremony daysLight plant-based breakfast, integration workshop mid-morning, light lunch, rest and fasting through the afternoon, pre-ceremony yoga around 6:30pm, ceremony from roughly 7:30pm running several hours.
  4. Rest daysCeremonies alternate with rest days: group sharing circles, flower baths, healer consults, bodywork, and time to do nothing.
  5. Final dayClosing circle and integration planning. Most centres advise against flying the same day.
  6. AfterIntegration support varies enormously, from a single follow-up call to a year of community access. This is the single biggest quality differentiator and the least advertised.

Reader reviews

Everyone who enquires through Peyote.com is asked for a review about three weeks later, and every review is published unless it breaks a posting rule, never because it is negative. Soltara Healing Center pays Peyote.com nothing. Paying never changes which reviews appear. How we make money

Soltara Healing Center: questions and answers

Where is Soltara Healing Center?
Soltara Healing Center is in Playa Blanca and Scarlet Valley, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, as the centre describes its location.Source: Soltara Healing Center home, 29 Oct 2026
How much does Soltara Healing Center cost?
Soltara Healing Center publishes 3 prices: 5-night retreat (5 nights) from $3,975; 7-night retreat (7 nights) from $4,275; 12-night retreat (Playa Blanca only) (12 nights) from $6,900, as read on its own website on 28 Oct 2026. Prices change; confirm the current figure with the centre before paying a deposit.Source: Soltara Healing Center website, 28 Oct 2026
How long is a programme at Soltara Healing Center?
Published programmes at Soltara Healing Center run 5 to 12 nights, with 3 or 4 or 7 ceremonies, as the centre publishes them.Source: Soltara Healing Center website, 28 Sep 2026
Does Soltara Healing Center screen guests before a retreat?
Soltara Healing Center describes medical screening. In its own words: Site describes an intake form, intake call and an intake process with therapists and medical advisors; states an onsite health clinic with doctor's office. Medication (read 2026-10-03): "Most places [including Soltara] feel that it is safer to stop using SSRIS 2 to 4 weeks before, and consider this part of the dieta to be followed."Sources: Soltara Healing Center home, 29 Oct 2026; Soltara preparation, 3 Oct 2026
Is ayahuasca legal in Costa Rica?
Ayahuasca is not named in Costa Rica's drug law but is not authorised either: tolerated in practice, and the subject of a January 2025 Health Ministry warning.Sources: Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas, current page; Transnational Institute (copy of statute), 2001The law in every place we cover

Compare side by side: Rythmia vs Soltara, Anam Cara vs Soltara, Behold Retreats vs Soltara, Casa de la Luz Ayahuasca Costa Rica vs Soltara, Inner Flight Retreat vs Soltara, Pandorita vs Soltara, Soltara vs Temple of the Way of Light, Arkana vs Soltara

Sources for this profile

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Also in Costa Rica

All ayahuasca retreats in Costa Rica, and the legal position there

The dispatch

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