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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (October 2026). They will be updated if Anam Cara Healing Retreats submits its own information.

Anam Cara Healing Retreats: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Costa Rica

Anam Cara Healing Retreats is a traveling ayahuasca retreat company, not a fixed center. Founded around 2021 in Peru’s Sacred Valley by Francesca Barone and a co-founder the company calls Neils, it ran week-long Shipibo ayahuasca retreats at a rented luxury venue outside Nosara, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, from 2024 to November 2025. All of its 2026 and 2027 Costa Rica dates are at Kinkara, a glamping venue in Pérez Zeledón in the country’s south, and it has also run retreats in Peru and near Barcelona. Each retreat has three ceremonies with Shipibo maestros, groups of up to 15, and prices of $4,100 to $8,400. Reviews are perfect or nearly so, 4.98 on Retreat Guru and 5.00 from 10 on BookRetreats, and we found no incidents. The concerns are a $2,000 or $2,500 non-refundable deposit (the same page gives both), a balance payable in cash on arrival, health and therapy credentials with no license shown, no named medical staff, a generic contraindication policy, the co-founder’s two different surnames on the company’s own site, and a Costa Rican Ministry of Health warning against ayahuasca retreats. Our earlier profile describes the Nosara venue and 2025 prices and needs updating on location, medicines, integration and transport.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Current Costa Rica retreats are at Kinkara, in Santa Elena, Pérez Zeledón, about 20 minutes from San Isidro de El General, according to the company’s program list and Kinkara’s own Retreat Guru page. From 2024 to November 2025 retreats ran at an unnamed venue about 20 minutes from Guiones, Nosara. Other dates have been held in the Sacred Valley, Peru, and in Catalonia, Spain.
• Approach: Three Shipibo ayahuasca ceremonies a week with a family of Shipibo-Konibo maestros and maestras, alongside daily yoga, breathwork, somatic therapy, nature walks, plant baths and integration circles. The company serves one brew, which it calls “Cielo.”
• Suitable For: Guests who want a comfortable, well-organized Shipibo ceremony week with strong preparation and integration support, and who can afford the price and accept cash payment. Less suited to anyone who needs licensed medical or psychological care on site, or flexible refund terms.
• Costs: $4,100 to $4,400 for a shared glamping tent, $4,700 to $4,900 for a private tent, $5,900 to $6,000 for a private “sanctuary” and $8,000 to $8,400 for couples at Kinkara in 2026, according to its program pages; the January 2026 Peru retreat ran from $2,900. The company’s retreats page asks for a non-refundable deposit of $2,500 in one section and $2,000 in another, with the balance “payable in cash (USD) upon arrival.” Scholarships of 20 to 50% are offered.
• Overall Assessment: A well-reviewed, small-group Shipibo retreat with structured preparation, a health questionnaire and a month of integration, offset by large non-refundable deposits and cash payment, unverified health credentials, no named medical staff, a generic contraindication policy, inconsistent details and Costa Rica’s official stance against ayahuasca retreats. Directory evaluation: B-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

Here is how Anam Cara rates across review platforms in October 2026:

The positive picture. Reviewers praise the preparation and integration care, safe and deep ceremony work, skilled maestros, honest and kind hosts, good food, careful pacing and the setting, and several call the week life-changing.

The negative feedback. We found no review below five stars on any platform.

Who is writing the reviews. All visible ratings are perfect or close to it, from roughly 15 to 20 reviews in total; BookRetreats reviews stop in November 2024 although retreats continued, and Retreat Guru’s are undated. The company’s media appearances are not independent: a co-founder interview on the podcast of a community whose members held a private Anam Cara retreat in 2025, and two interviews with Barone on the podcast of a guest facilitator who co-leads its December 2026 retreat. Its December 2026 page says of that facilitator, Erick Godsey, that “he has been called a cult leader and he agrees.” The company says 10% of retreat costs go to a “Reciprocity Fund,” without published figures. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms, Costa Rican and English-language news, and legal sources, in English and Spanish, for reports involving Anam Cara, its founders, staff and named maestros, and the Kinkara venue.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found. A 2026 death of an American man in Nosara, reported by La Teja, had no reported link to any retreat, and the 2024 death after ibogaine at a Costa Rica retreat involved a different operator.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: None found.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident at Anam Cara, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Deposits and cash. The retreats page asks for “a $2,500 USD non-refundable deposit” in its payment policy and a “$2,000 USD non-refundable” deposit in its booking steps. The balance is paid in cash on the first day, and “if you do not show up for your retreat or cancel within 60 days, the remaining balance will be charged to your credit card on file.” The deposit is refunded only if the company declines you on medical grounds; rescheduling “with enough notice (usually 60-90 days)” may be possible. Clarify the deposit amount and get the terms in writing.

Credentials and names. Francesca Barone describes herself as a “naturopathic medical practitioner, holistic nutritionist, and plant medicine facilitator,” without naming a school, license or jurisdiction; a 2022 podcast description says she worked at Soltara Healing Center in Costa Rica before co-founding Anam Cara. The listed somatic therapist gives no license. The company’s own about page calls its co-founder “Neils Poole” in one section and “Neils Nahm” in another; Retreat Guru and the program pages use Nahm, and a March 2026 interview uses Poole. Ask which name is correct and what credentials each facilitator holds.

The legal position. DMT is a controlled substance in Costa Rica, while the plants are not listed. In January 2025 the Ministry of Health issued a health warning against using, consuming or promoting ayahuasca or ibogaine for therapeutic purposes, saying healing is a medical activity that requires a licensed professional in an authorized establishment. A legal explainer describes ayahuasca retreats as a tolerated gray area with no formal authorization, according to Mind Medicine Law. Our earlier profile called it a “legal gray area without specific regulation”; the ministry’s warning should be part of that picture. The company has also run paid ayahuasca retreats in Spain, where the legal status of ayahuasca is uncertain. See our country-by-country legal guide.

Corrections to our earlier profile. Costa Rica retreats have moved from Nosara to Kinkara in Pérez Zeledón. The company serves only one brew and no current page offers San Pedro, which our earlier profile listed. Integration is now one month, not three. Liberia airport is about two and a half hours from the former Nosara venue, not 90 minutes, and guests arrange their own transport rather than having it arranged. The group size is stated: up to 15, usually 8 to 14. Our earlier descriptions of an eco-built venue with a saltwater infinity pool, ozone spa, cold plunge and maloca describe the Nosara venue, not Kinkara, where glamping tents share bathrooms. We found no source for biodynamic farms, for waiting lists, for guests returning for second retreats, or for the list of conditions our earlier profile said the company treats, from depression to autoimmune disease; those remain unverified.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Every guest must complete a “mandatory health screening questionnaire” before registration, followed by a one-on-one preparation call a month before the retreat, according to the company’s FAQ. Its contraindication guidance is generic, saying ayahuasca “can be unsafe” with certain conditions and medications without naming SSRIs, MAOIs, heart conditions or psychotic disorders. Its two-week pre-retreat diet lists “medications” among things to avoid, with no tapering guidance. No doctor, nurse or paramedic is named; one 2025 page mentions an “on-site naturopathic doctor” at the Nosara venue’s spa. The FAQ promises “emergency protocols” without detail. Near Kinkara, the regional hospital is in San Isidro de El General, about 20 minutes from the venue’s area; near Nosara, the nearest public hospital was in Nicoya, about an hour away. Integration includes a month of one-on-one and group support and an online membership. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes combinations with SSRIs and other serotonergic medications contraindicated, and that ayahuasca is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Erowid warns of extreme, possibly fatal reactions with some prescription drugs. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a retreat without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

The company serves a single brew it calls “Cielo,” which it describes as “100% wild-grown Amazonian Ayahuasca” grown, harvested and brewed by its Shipibo family in Peru, and does not publish the recipe. Traditional ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains. Each week includes three ceremonies with several healers present. A January 2027 women’s retreat adds a bobinsana dieta, and some retreats have included a sweat lodge. No kambo, rapé, bufo or psilocybin is offered. Ask exactly what is in each cup and how doses are set.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Kinkara is a glamping venue in the Talamanca foothills southwest of Cerro Chirripó, with bell tents, a pool, spa, sauna, hot tub, temazcal and river, according to its own listings. The former Nosara venue was a hot, coastal luxury property with a saltwater pool and spa.
• Rooms: Shared or private glamping tents with shared bathrooms and hot showers at Kinkara, plus a private “sanctuary” option.
• Style: Shipibo ceremony inside a polished wellness program: daily yoga, breathwork, embodiment and integration circles, with “100% organic and homemade” meals.

Practical guidance: For Kinkara, the company places the venue about an hour from Uvita; the nearest town is San Isidro de El General. Transport arrangements for Kinkara are not stated, so confirm them before booking.

Should You Book?

Anam Cara may suit you if you want a well-run Shipibo ceremony week with careful preparation and integration and a comfortable venue, and you accept the cost and the cash balance. The trade-offs: a non-refundable deposit of $2,000 or $2,500, a balance charged to your card if you cancel within 60 days, unverified health credentials, no named medical staff, a generic contraindication policy, inconsistent names and dates, and Costa Rica’s official warning against ayahuasca retreats. If you go, get the deposit amount, refund terms, medication exclusions, emergency plan and staff credentials in writing, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

The company’s facilitators page names co-founders Francesca Barone and Neils Nahm, facilitators Juan David Diaz and Jamael Rahill, somatic therapist Zaianna Ortiz, and eight Shipibo-Konibo maestros and maestras, including Maricela Rios Inuma and Teo Ochavano Lopez, who also appear as teachers on other centers’ Retreat Guru pages. It says it has a “life-long friendship with 3 families of Shipibo healers” and “over 20 combined years of apprenticeship,” while program pages refer to “a family.” Neils is described as having lived about a decade in Peru with Shipibo, Mestizo and Quechua traditions. In 2024 a separate Shipibo-lineage group, Body of Prana, co-hosted retreats. No legal entity is published. We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Complete the health questionnaire honestly, list every medication and supplement, and talk with your own doctor about any medication before following the pre-retreat diet. After you return: A month of one-on-one and group integration is included. Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home as well. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Applications go through anamcarahealingretreats.com and its Retreat Guru booking pages, with review in two to five business days. Upcoming dates at Kinkara include November 2026, December 1 to 8, 2026, and a women’s retreat on January 10 to 17, 2027. Before paying, confirm in writing the deposit amount, the refund terms, the venue, transport, the medication exclusions and the emergency arrangements. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed October 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.