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

Bluestone Ayahuasca: An In-Depth Review for Sessions in Cancún, Mexico

Bluestone Ayahuasca runs five- and eight-day ayahuasca retreats at a jungle property on the outskirts of Cancún, led by its American founder and two Mexican facilitators, with an optional Bufo alvarius session at extra cost. It is active and fully scheduled, with a retreat under way this week and dates published through November 2027. On Retreat Guru it scores 4.98 from 93 reviews, and we found no incidents. The independent picture is limited to that one platform, and the center’s own words raise safety questions: “We are not MDs; we are ayahuasqueros,” its FAQ says, and it publishes no contraindication list beyond saying “few medications” are a problem. Our earlier profile also needs correcting: the center does have a website, and we could not confirm the venue name or move date it gave.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: A property “located in the jungle on the outskirts of Cancun,” according to its retreat site page, about 30 minutes from Cancún International Airport per its Retreat Guru listing. No address is published. Earlier retreats ran at Casa de La Tortuga, an oceanfront villa north of Cancún, from at least 2021 to 2022.
• Approach: Night ayahuasca ceremonies with rapé, temazcal (sweat lodge), drum meditation, movement sessions, private healer sessions and an integration session after every ceremony, according to its booking page. Facilitators drink the medicine with participants. Optional Bufo alvarius (5-MeO-DMT) before the final ceremony.
• Suitable For: Travelers from North America who want a short, organized retreat close to a major airport, with airport shuttles included and a small group. Less suited to anyone who needs on-site medical staff or a detailed published screening policy.
• Costs: $2,500 for the eight-day retreat (three ceremonies) and $1,900 for the five-day (two ceremonies), with a six-day “Awakened Woman” retreat at $1,900 in 2027. Bufo is the only extra cost; its price is not published. Our earlier profile’s $500 deposit could not be confirmed; a 2021 listing required $800.
• Overall Assessment: A long-running, well-reviewed small operation with included airport transfers and integration, offset by no medical staff, a thin public screening statement for a program that adds 5-MeO-DMT to an MAOI brew, unnamed medicine sources, inconsistent team bios and a review base concentrated on one booking platform. Directory evaluation: B-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

Here is how Bluestone rates across review platforms in October 2026:

The positive picture. Visible Retreat Guru reviews from 2023 to July 2026 praise experienced, attentive facilitators, a well-planned schedule, clean facilities, food described as “incredible,” integration in English and how easy the retreat is to reach from the United States. The center’s own site carries testimonials such as a January 2025 guest writing that “the quality of human beings at Bluestone cannot be surpassed.”

A note of caution from guests. A March 2023 Retreat Guru review warned that the jungle site was “without traditional plumbing, electricity, or air conditioning” and that guests should not “assume you’re checking into a 4 start hotel.” The center’s current listings advertise air conditioning, ceiling fans and en suite bathrooms, so the site has either been upgraded or changed.

Reddit. Our earlier profile cited a 2023 Reddit reviewer who called the facilitators indispensable for compassionate support during ceremonies (unverified).

Who is writing the reviews. Almost all of Bluestone’s public feedback is on Retreat Guru, a booking platform that earns a commission, where 88 of 93 reviews sit behind a “show more” button. Retreat Vault, which says “Retreats pay us when you book,” reports 92 Google reviews at 5.0, a count suspiciously close to Retreat Guru’s. We found no review incentives or affiliate program. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms, Mexican and English-language news and legal sources for reports involving Bluestone Ayahuasca and its named facilitators.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: None found.

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

🔍 Critical Notes

Mexico’s legal position. DMT is a controlled substance under Mexico’s General Health Law, while ayahuasca itself is not named in the schedules, leaving retreats in what the Psychedelic Journal calls a “tolerated but unsettled legal position.” The indigenous-use exemption covers peyote and mushrooms, not ayahuasca. The same explainer says Quintana Roo authorities have not pursued ceremonial retreat operators. Bluestone says its brew is “hand-carried to Mexico” from the Amazon, which carries its own cross-border legal risk. See our country-by-country legal guide.

Bufo and the toad. Bluestone offers Bufo alvarius, the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad, as an optional extra. Researchers from the Usona Institute and Mexico’s UNAM report toad populations declining from trapping and repeated milking, with about 400 adults found across ten survey sites, and question claims that “toad medicine” is an ancient tradition, according to a 2025 New York Times report reprinted by UnoTV. Bluestone does not say whether its Bufo is wild-harvested, farmed or synthetic. Its facilitator’s “Bufo Master” title, which the team page says was “given by the abuelos of the Tohono O’odham tribe,” sits inside that dispute.

Inconsistent self-descriptions. The founder is described as having “over 40 years” in Latin America on Retreat Guru and “over 50 years” on the center’s site. One facilitator is credited with 17-plus years with ayahuasca on Retreat Guru and 13 on the site, and her Bufo training is attributed to Tohono O’odham elders on one page and to Sonora on another. Group size is “1-12” on the booking page and “maximum of 15” in the FAQ. The number of private healer sessions differs between pages.

Corrections to our earlier profile. Bluestone has a website, bluestone-ayahuasca.com, plus Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp contacts. We could not confirm the venue name “La Hacienda” or a May 2024 move from the oceanfront; a March 2023 review already describes a jungle site, and no source names the current venue. The airport is about 30 minutes away, not an hour. The center now says its brew comes from “Shipibo and Colombian medicine families,” not Shipibo only. The site does not call anyone a co-founder. We found no published exclusion of people on antidepressants and no pre-retreat video calls, both of which our earlier profile described.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Bluestone asks applicants for “a list of current medications” and says it works with “our medical consultant” if issues come up; the consultant is not named. Its FAQ states that “few medications, and fewer physical/medical conditions, are contra-indicated” and “We are not MDs; we are ayahuasqueros.” No on-site medical staff, emergency protocol or nearest hospital is published. That matters more here because the program combines an MAOI brew with optional 5-MeO-DMT, and the facilitators drink alongside participants. ICEERS notes that combining ayahuasca’s MAOI component with SSRIs or other serotonergic medications is contraindicated, and that ayahuasca is contraindicated for people with severe psychiatric disorders, particularly those prone to psychosis. Erowid warns of extreme, possibly fatal reactions with some prescription drugs, and DanceSafe notes a higher risk of psychological distress for people with a personal or family history of mood or psychotic disorders. Ask Bluestone who its medical consultant is, which medications it excludes, who stays sober during ceremonies, and how emergencies are handled. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a retreat without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

Bluestone serves “Ayahuasca Cielo,” which it says is prepared by Shipibo and Colombian medicine families in the Amazon and either hand-carried to Mexico or brought by the families themselves; no healer is named. Ayahuasca is made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and DMT-containing leaves; as Erowid explains, the vine’s MAO inhibitors make the DMT orally active. Rapé is used at every ceremony. Bufo alvarius, a 5-MeO-DMT source, is optional and given the morning before the final ayahuasca ceremony. We found no kambo or master-plant dietas. The 2027 retreat titles add the word “Teonanácatl,” a Nahuatl term associated with psilocybin mushrooms; the center does not explain whether that is a venue name or a new offering, so ask.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Mexico: A jungle property on the outskirts of Cancún with a maloca (ceremony house), temazcal and pool, according to the center. Rooms are double occupancy with two double beds or a king bed, a ceiling fan, air conditioning and an en suite bathroom; single rooms are only occasional. Hot and humid year-round. Jungle Comfort.
• Style: Small and structured. Expect three night ceremonies (roughly 7pm to 4am) on the eight-day retreat, two temazcales, movement and grounding sessions, and integration after each ceremony, with a restricted vegetarian diet (no salt, sugar, onion, garlic or chile). Facilitation is in English.

Practical guidance: Fly into Cancún International Airport (CUN). Two free shuttles run on the first day and one on the last; late arrivals pay the driver $50. Flights and accommodation before or after the retreat are not included.

Should You Book?

Bluestone may suit you if you want a short, small-group ayahuasca retreat near Cancún with a long track record of satisfied guests and transport handled. The trade-offs: no medical staff, a screening statement that downplays medication risks, an extra 5-MeO-DMT option with unexplained sourcing, facilitators who drink during ceremonies, and a review profile concentrated on one commission-based platform. If you go, get the medical consultant’s name, the medication exclusions and the emergency plan in writing, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Bluestone was launched in 2018 by Sharon Van Bramer, an American described on its team page as a translator and writer who worked with medicine people in Peru, Ecuador and Mexico for 12 years beforehand. Sandra Reyes Perez, from Veracruz, is described as coming from “a long line of Totonaca healers” and as a bioneuroemotion therapist, Ericksonian hypnosis practitioner and life coach. Inocencio “Ino” Delgado (listed as Innocencio Delgadillo on Retreat Guru) is the resident “Man of Fire.” The team page also lists a wider “medicine family” without roles. We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials or lineage.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Send a complete medication and supplement list, ask in writing which ones are excluded, and talk with your own doctor well before travel. Decide in advance whether you want Bufo; it is optional. Follow the pre-retreat diet you are given. After you return: Integration sessions run after each ceremony during the retreat; arrange support from a qualified therapist at home for afterward. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Bookings are made through bluestone-ayahuasca.com or its Retreat Guru pages, and by WhatsApp at +52 998 845 2761. The eight-day retreat costs $2,500 and the five-day $1,900; the next published date is November 19 to 26, 2026. The site says payments are refunded if you cancel before arrival but not after you arrive; Retreat Guru gives different cutoffs, so confirm which applies. Before paying, get the medication exclusions, the medical consultant’s name, the emergency plan and the Bufo price and sourcing in writing. 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.