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

Soulina Retreats: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Nosara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Soulina Retreats is a retreat organizer hosted by Victor Oddo and his partner, Pattie, and promoted with YouTuber Aaron Doughty, that runs six-day ayahuasca retreats with three ceremonies at Finca Austria, a rented private resort in the hills above Nosara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, per its website. It has used the same venue since at least 2022, includes airport transport and offers a year of monthly integration calls. Against that, its shamans are unnamed, it publishes no medical questionnaire, contraindication rules, medical staff or emergency plan for groups of 23 to 26, no refund terms or legal entity are shown, and there are no independent reviews.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Finca Austria, a rented resort in the hills above Nosara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica; no GPS is published.
• Approach: Three ayahuasca ceremonies led by a husband-and-wife team it says comes from the Santo Daime lineage, with breathwork, yoga and integration circles.
• Suitable For: Travelers comfortable in a large group who arrange their own medical screening. Not suitable for people taking antidepressants or with heart or psychiatric conditions.
• Costs: $4,500 to $6,500 for six days and five nights depending on room, with payment plans and round-trip transport from Liberia or San José airports included. In 2022 it charged $3,150 to $4,500 for four nights, per its earlier sales page. No deposit or refund terms are published.
• Overall Assessment: Consistent hosts at one venue with long integration support, offset by unnamed shamans, no published medical safeguards for large groups and no independent reviews. Directory evaluation: C-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

No independent reviews of Soulina were found on Retreat Guru, BookRetreats or Tripadvisor; its own site shows seven first-name testimonials. The venue has 4.8 from 46 reviews on Tripadvisor, none about ayahuasca; a 2015 two-star review of the venue cites a rough road, broken appliances, power outages and insects. No reviews of the retreats rated 3 stars or lower were found. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English and Spanish-language news for reports involving Soulina Retreats, Victor Oddo, Aaron Doughty and Finca Austria.

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

The shamans are unnamed and were not searched, so this absence offers limited assurance.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with this center, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Who runs it. Oddo says he has hosted 17 ayahuasca retreats, and Pattie runs screening calls and integration; Doughty’s role at the January 2027 retreat is not stated. The shamans are an unnamed married couple who withhold their photos, and the medicine comes from an unnamed jungle family. No legal entity, address or contact other than an application form is shown, and sales have run through the hosts’ YouTube audiences, as in a 2020 episode.

Screening and medical support. Every applicant has a Zoom call with Pattie, but no questionnaire, contraindication list, medical staff or emergency plan is published. The site markets the retreat as intimate while capping groups at 23 to 26 and saying past groups reached 30 to 40. The nearest hospital is in Nicoya, roughly an hour or more by road (unverified).

Status. Operating, with a retreat advertised for January 10 to 15, 2027.

Legal context. In January 2025 Costa Rica’s Health Ministry called healing rituals with ayahuasca an unauthorized practice and warned against promoting it, per its health warning. In February 2025 the attorney general’s office found that no rule governed or banned ayahuasca when a Guanacaste resort was given a temporary authorization in 2022, per La Nación.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Ask for the written medical questionnaire and contraindication rules before your screening call. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes it dangerous with SSRIs and other serotonergic drugs and that it is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

Ayahuasca served by the shaman couple and sourced from an unnamed jungle family. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: A hillside resort with ocean views and infinity pools above Nosara’s beaches.
• Rooms: Price depends on room choice; the venue has nine rooms across two main houses.
• Style: A Western-hosted group retreat with a hired shaman couple.

Practical guidance: Fly to Liberia (LIR); round-trip transport is included, with San José (SJO) as an option.

Should You Book?

Possibly, once the gaps are filled. Ask in writing for the shamans’ names and training, the medical questionnaire and contraindication rules, who on site is trained in first aid, the emergency plan and hospital route, the refund terms, and the final group size. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Soulina presents itself as a private, intimate ayahuasca retreat for people sincerely called to the work. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing and plan any change with your own doctor. After you return: Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

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Last reviewed November 2026.

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