Is Rythmia medically licensed?

Rythmia has a Ministry of Health sanitary operating permit on record, number DARS SC-2020-0372. CR Hoy reported in February 2025 that the permit lists its activity as complementary therapies, with an expiry date of 25 November 2025. Rythmia's FAQ calls it a General Medical License, and its safety site still described the centre as licensed in October 2026. Ask Rythmia for a copy of the permit in force today.

Did Costa Rica try to shut Rythmia down?

In 2024 the Ministry of Health opened a procedure to annul the authorisation it had given Rythmia for the use of ayahuasca, and asked the Procuraduria General de la Republica to declare it void. In February 2025 the Procuraduria said it could not, citing serious defects in how the Ministry had built its case. The permit stood. The decision was about procedure, not a ruling that ayahuasca use is lawful.

Is Rythmia the only medically licensed ayahuasca centre?

That is Rythmia's own claim, which Peyote.com cannot confirm. Soltara, another Costa Rica centre, says on its own site that it has an onsite clinic and a medical permit through the Costa Rican Ministry of Health.

Does a medical licence mean ayahuasca is an approved treatment?

No. The Ministry of Health's January 2025 warning says ayahuasca products have no sanitary registration, are not authorised for therapeutic use, and have not been evaluated for safety, quality or efficacy. A permit to operate a facility does not register the brew as a medicine.

The directory / Questions

Is Rythmia legal and medically licensed? What its permit is, and what it is not

Ayahuasca is not named in Costa Rica's drug law and is not authorised either, so retreats there operate in a grey area. Rythmia has a Ministry of Health operating permit on record, and an attempt by the Ministry, begun in 2024, to annul the authorisation it had given Rythmia for ayahuasca failed in 2025 on procedural grounds. This page sets out what that permit is, what Rythmia says about it, and what a medical licence there does and does not mean.

Figures computed from the directory's rows, read 29 Oct 2026. Every fact links to its source.

The short answer

Ayahuasca sits in a legal grey area in Costa Rica: tolerated, not authorised.
Rythmia's Ministry of Health operating permit on record, number DARS SC-2020-0372, is for complementary therapies (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025).
The Ministry tried to annul the authorisation it had given Rythmia for ayahuasca; the Procuraduria General de la Republica said in 2025 that it could not, and the permit stood (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025).
A permit to run a facility does not make ayahuasca an approved medicine.

Ayahuasca and Costa Rican law

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.

DMT, the main psychoactive substance in ayahuasca, is on Lista I of the Ministry of Health's list of substances under national control (Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, 10 Sep 2026). The Ministry's January 2025 warning repeats that, and says products based on ayahuasca must meet the national rules on control and registration (Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, 27 Jan 2025).

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 permit Rythmia holds

CR Hoy reported on 27 February 2025 on a procedure the Ministry of Health opened in May 2024 to decide whether the authorisation it had given Rythmia for the use of ayahuasca was lawful. The report quotes the procedure's description of Rythmia's permit (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025):

A sanitary operating permit (permiso sanitario de funcionamiento), number DARS SC-2020-0372.
For an establishment named Rythmia Life Advancement Center Terapias Complementarias, at Hacienda Pinilla.
Type of activity: complementary therapies. Risk type: B.
Expiry date: 25 November 2025.

The Ministry asked the Procuraduria General de la Republica to declare the authorisation void. The Procuraduria said it could not: it found errors “de suma gravedad”, of the utmost seriousness, in the Ministry's procedure, which did not state the specific reasons for closure or the rules being broken, and it said no absolute, evident and manifest nullity had been shown (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025). The permit stood. The decision turned on how the case was built; it did not rule that using ayahuasca is lawful.

The expiry date given in that procedure has now passed. We have not found a public record showing whether the permit was renewed, and Rythmia's safety site still describes the centre as licensed in October 2026 (Rythmia, own site, 29 Oct 2026). If it matters to you, ask Rythmia for a copy of the permit in force today and check its dates.

What Rythmia says about its licences

Rythmia's screening FAQ says:

“Rythmia holds a General Medical License from the Costa Rican Ministry of Health and is separately licensed by IAFA, Costa Rica's drug and alcohol facility management authority. It is the only medically licensed plant medicine center in the world.” (Rythmia, own site, 29 Oct 2026)

Its safety site says its clinical standards are “audited and certified by the Costa Rican Ministry of Health” (Rythmia, own site, 29 Oct 2026). Set against the other sources:

The permit described in the 2024 procedure is an operating permit for complementary therapies (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025). “General Medical License” is Rythmia's own description of it.
CR Hoy's report says Rythmia explained to the Ministry that it had once held an IAFA licence, had cancelled it, and had not provided the service it covered since 2018 (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025). We have not found a public record of a current IAFA licence. Ask Rythmia which licences it holds today.
“The only medically licensed plant medicine center in the world” is Rythmia's claim. Soltara, another Costa Rica ayahuasca centre, says it has “an onsite clinic and medical permit through the Costa Rican Ministry of Health” (Soltara, own site, 29 Oct 2026).

What a medical licence there does and does not mean

What it does mean. The Ministry of Health has allowed the establishment to operate, at that address, for the activity the permit names (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025). Rythmia says doctors, registered nurses and emergency technicians are on site 24 hours a day (Rythmia, own site, 29 Oct 2026).

What it does not mean.

It does not register ayahuasca as a medicine. The Ministry says ayahuasca products have no sanitary registration and are not authorised for therapeutic use, and that unregistered products have not been evaluated for safety, quality or efficacy (Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, 27 Jan 2025).
It is not a ruling that ayahuasca is legal. The 2025 decision was procedural, and DMT stays under national control (CR Hoy, 27 Feb 2025; Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, 10 Sep 2026).
The Ministry's warning says that offering “sanacion”, healing, is a medical practice that must take place in an establishment with a certificate of habilitation and be carried out by professionals registered with their professional college (Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, 27 Jan 2025). Whether a given retreat meets that is a question to put to it, with the documents.
It is not a safety rating. Peyote.com has not inspected Rythmia or any other centre.

What you can check yourself

Ask for a copy of the sanitary operating permit in force, and check its activity and expiry date.
Ask which other licences or certificates Rythmia holds today, and from which authority.
Ask for the names of the doctors on duty during your week, and whether they are registered with the Colegio de Medicos y Cirujanos de Costa Rica.
Read the medicines and screening rules before you pay: Rythmia's bookings are non-refundable (Rythmia, own site, 29 Oct 2026).

The legal status page tracks the law in every country we list, and Rythmia's profile carries every source on this page.

Questions and answers

Is ayahuasca legal in Costa Rica?: It is tolerated rather than authorised. Law 8204 controls DMT, the main active substance in ayahuasca, but does not name ayahuasca or the plants it is made from. On 27 January 2025 the Ministry of Health warned that ayahuasca products have no sanitary registration and are not authorised for therapeutic use. There is no licensing regime for retreats.
Is Rythmia medically licensed?: Rythmia has a Ministry of Health sanitary operating permit on record, number DARS SC-2020-0372. CR Hoy reported in February 2025 that the permit lists its activity as complementary therapies, with an expiry date of 25 November 2025. Rythmia's FAQ calls it a General Medical License, and its safety site still described the centre as licensed in October 2026. Ask Rythmia for a copy of the permit in force today.
Did Costa Rica try to shut Rythmia down?: In 2024 the Ministry of Health opened a procedure to annul the authorisation it had given Rythmia for the use of ayahuasca, and asked the Procuraduria General de la Republica to declare it void. In February 2025 the Procuraduria said it could not, citing serious defects in how the Ministry had built its case. The permit stood. The decision was about procedure, not a ruling that ayahuasca use is lawful.
Is Rythmia the only medically licensed ayahuasca centre?: That is Rythmia's own claim, which Peyote.com cannot confirm. Soltara, another Costa Rica centre, says on its own site that it has an onsite clinic and a medical permit through the Costa Rican Ministry of Health.
Does a medical licence mean ayahuasca is an approved treatment?: No. The Ministry of Health's January 2025 warning says ayahuasca products have no sanitary registration, are not authorised for therapeutic use, and have not been evaluated for safety, quality or efficacy. A permit to operate a facility does not register the brew as a medicine.