FRequently Asked Questions

Anam Cara’s eco-friendly retreat center is located on the Guanacaste Peninsula of Costa Rica which is approximately a 20 minute drive from the well-known Guiones area of Nosara. We also host retreats in México, Perú & Spain.

International flights arrive into Costa Rica via Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José, the country’s capital city, or Liberia Airport (LIR).

To get to Nosara from outside of Costa Rica, it is recommended to fly into San José (SJO) and then catch a connecting domestic flight directly to Nosara.

Sansa Airlines is the only airline that operates domestic flights within Costa Rica. These flights are not available for purchase on travel websites such as Skyscanner, Priceline, Google Flights or Booking.com. You can only purchase domestic flights directly from the airline website: www.flysansa.com

Connecting flights from San José to Nosara via Sansa Airlines are 45 minutes non-stop. Depending on the season, there are up to 4 daily flights from San José to Nosara.

If you fly into Liberia Airport, you will need to arrange ground transportation from the airport to Nosara.

It is a 2-3 hour drive, depending on the road conditions which can be slightly rough. You can find private taxi and shared shuttle options online or at Liberia Airport in the arrivals terminal. Prices can range between $60 and $250 USD, depending on the type of service you choose. We recommend booking your ground transportation before arriving to Costa Rica.

No. To ensure that you arrive in San José early enough in the day to make your connecting flight and avoid having to stay the night in San Jose, we recommend that our retreat guests skip San José and come directly to Nosara as the final flights from San José to Nosara depart in the afternoon (between 4:00-5:00pm).

Domestic flights from San José to Nosara are in small charter planes that depart from the domestic airport, directly next to the international airport in San José. When your international flight lands and you have collected your luggage, follow the signage to the domestic airport (3 minute walk).

Domestic flights in Costa Rica are operated by Sansa Airlines and can only be booked directly with the airline on their website: www.flysansa.com

Yes. Nosara, where our eco-friendly retreat center is located, is a safe and relaxing coastal town on the lush Nicoya Peninsula in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is heavily dependent on tourism and thousands of travelers arrive every week to visit the incredible natural reserves and beaches here without any issues.

Although Costa Rica is a safe country to visit, we recommend exercising the standard safety precautions that you would exercise when traveling to a new destination. We also recommend exercising additional caution when you are in major tourist areas, in major cities, using public transportation, using ATMs and after dark.

Yes. Perú is a safe country to visit with incredible natural, spiritual and cultural wonders to experience such as Machu Picchu and the ancient ruins and remains of The Inca Empire.

Although Perú is a safe country to visit, we recommend exercising the standard safety precautions that you would exercise when traveling to a new destination. We also recommend exercising additional caution when you are in major tourist areas, in major cities, using public transportation, using ATMs and after dark.

Yes. México is a safe country to visit with incredible beaches, art, food and ancient cultural wonders to experience. More than 30 million people visit México each year without experiencing any issues.

Although México is a safe country to visit, we recommend exercising the standard safety precautions that you would exercise when traveling to a new destination. We also recommend exercising additional caution when you are in major tourist areas, in major cities, using public transportation, using ATMs and after dark.

To get to the retreat venue, you will need to organize a taxi from your accommodation in Nosara to the retreat venue on the first day of your retreat. We will provide you with information on taxi and transportation options in the days leading up to the retreat.

Please note that transportation from Nosara to the retreat venue is not included in the retreat package.

If you are joining us for a retreat in Perú, México or Spain, please contact us directly by sending us an email at anamcarahealingretreats@gmail.com.

To learn more about your specific visa requirements, you can use the free Sherpa visa requirements tool at: https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions

In general, US passport holders do not need to apply for a visa to enter Costa Rica, Perú, Spain or México.

Starting mid-2025, US passport holders will need to apply online for travel authorisation to Spain through ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System).

Unless you are traveling to Costa Rica from a country with high transmission risk for yellow fever, you do not need to be vaccinated or provide proof of vaccination to enter Costa Rica (including the COVID-19 vaccination).

If you are traveling to Costa Rica from a country with a high transmission risk for yellow fever, you will need to show proof of Yellow Fever vaccination. These countries include Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, as well as the Republic of Guyana.

You do not need to be vaccinated or provide proof of vaccination to enter Peru (including the COVID-19 vaccination).

You do not need to be vaccinated or provide proof of vaccination to enter Mexico (including the COVID-19 vaccination).

No. You do not need to present a negative COVID-19 test to enter Costa Rica, México, Spain or Perú.

No. Anam Cara does not require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or proof of a negative COVID-19 test to join or participate in one of our retreats.

No. Anam Cara does not require guests to wear a mask throughout the retreat.

Ayahuasca is a powerful medicine that can be safely consumed in a ceremonial environment under the guidance of experienced healers, provided there is proper pre-ceremony screening, preparation, and post-ceremony integration.

To date, there have been no toxicological reports or forensic studies that have identified Ayahuasca as the sole cause of any death when consumed in its traditional form—“Cielo” Ayahuasca brew, made from Psychotria viridis (Chacruna leaves) and Banisteriopsis caapi (Ayahuasca vine), which is the only brew we serve at Anam Cara.

However, Ayahuasca can be unsafe when consumed by individuals with certain mental or physical health conditions or when combined with certain medications (both prescribed and recreational). Reported illnesses, injuries, and fatalities related to Ayahuasca use have typically occurred due to unsafe drug interactions, the addition of non-traditional ingredients (such as tobacco), inadequate health screening, lack of proper integration, or use in unsafe environments without supervision. These instances remain extremely rare.

For this reason, it is crucial to work with a reputable and experienced organization, such as Anam Cara, that has robust health screening, emergency protocols, and access to medical facilities to ensure your safety throughout the retreat.

At Anam Cara, your safety and wellbeing are our top priorities. Before registration, each guest is required to complete a mandatory health screening questionnaire. Additionally, we facilitate a video call before the retreat, offering us the opportunity to connect personally, build mutual trust, and ensure you are fully supported on your transformational healing journey.

We work only with traditional “Cielo Ayahuasca” which is brewed directly by the Shipibo curanderos (healers) that we work with.

Our brew is made with only two ingredients: Psychotria viridis leaves (Chacruna leaves) and Banisteriopsis caapi vine (Ayahuasca vine).

The ingredients used in the brew are grown on the same lands that they will be consumed, without any toxins, chemicals or pesticides. The leaves and vine are harvested by hand, directly by the family of curanderos that will be facilitating the Ayahuasca ceremony.

At Anam Cara, we only host retreats with a maximum total group size of 15 participants.

Our standard smaller group retreat sizes offer an intimate and individualized plant medicine experience in deep connection with the curanderos (indigenous plant medicine practitioners & healers) which we believe is as important as the medicine itself.

Even with a maximum group size of 15 participants, we generally only host between 8-12 participants on most of our retreats.

We only work with highly experienced indigenous curanderos (healers) of the Shipibo lineage that have worked with plant medicine for more than a decade.

On every Anam Cara retreat, we always work with multiple healers at a time to allow participants an intimate and individualized experience.

We are incredibly blessed to have loving friendships with some of the most experienced Shipibo Ayahuasqueros (Ayahuasca masters) and are honored to be a bridge for their ancient ancestral medicine and healing technologies.

The psychoactive effects of Ayahuasca can last anywhere from a few hours to all night.

The effects of the medicine vary enormously from person to person. Because of this, we ensure that there are multiple highly-experienced curanderos (healers) present throughout and after the experience to assist with the correct physical, psychological and spiritual integration, regardless of how long the psychoactive effects of the medicine lasts for.

In order to receive more healing from your retreat experience, it is extremely important to follow the Ayahuasca diet that we provide to you before your retreat begins.

The Ayahuasca diet includes a 2-week period of preparation dieting before the retreat and another 2-week period of dieting after the retreat. The diet mostly consists of eating whole foods, minimizing processed foods, eliminating pork, red meat, sex, medications, drugs, and other plant medicines.

We provide our guests with more details about the Ayahuasca diet upon registration.

Yes. There is a laundry service available at our retreat center for a small additional cost.

At Anam Cara, we receive many guests that join our retreats as a couple and many guests that join our retreats alone. Choosing to come alone or with your partner is a personal decision, with no right or wrong answer.

Sharing the retreat experience with your partner can be deeply nourishing or unsettling. If you do choose to come with your partner, it is important that your relationship feels safe, secure and healthy at the time of the retreat, and that both of you feel confident in your ability to enter the ceremonial space whilst maintaining respect for each other's unique individual experiences.

Yes. Wi-Fi and cellphone service are available at the retreat center. 

We highly recommend minimizing or refraining from outside communication (especially social media) throughout the duration of your retreat. Ideally, we recommend giving yourself the gift of disconnecting completely from linear “clock” time and the outside world. This will allow you to fully immerse yourself into the retreat experience, which will allow you to make the most of your investment.

Due to the nature of the retreat, it is strongly recommended that you schedule time off work for the entire duration of your retreat.

No. We unfortunately do not open up our ceremonies to guests that aren’t participating in the entire retreat.

This is to honor the profound commitment that each guest makes to their healing journey when joining us for a retreat, and to respect the trust, safety & kinship that develops naturally from working in a group setting. Consecutive plant medicine ceremonies also allow each guest to deepen their bond with the medicine and the curanderos, which allows for profound transformation and healing to take place.

We work diligently to establish trust, safety and security in the retreat space, well before the retreat begins. The safer each guest feels, both individually and as a community, the deeper they are able to connect with the medicine and our curanderos which will allow them to surrender deeply to their own personal healing journey.

We ask that you join us for each ceremony, even if you do not choose to partake in consuming the plant medicine.

During the retreat week, we schedule 3 plant medicine ceremonies which are bookended by additional experiences, activities and events to support, process, integrate and enhance your experience.

Our shared room option is shared with one other person of the same biological sex.

Absolutely! To us, music is a form of medicine that compliments and enhances the retreat experience. We would love to receive your unique medicine and connect with you musically.