Best Ayahuasca Retreats in USA:
Where to Find Ayahuasca in United States

Ayahuasca is not legal in any US state. Only a few churches have federal protection to use it, and most other ceremonies run without federal permission. In 2026, a weekend church ceremony in the US costs about $550 to $1,000 and a week-long retreat $2,700 to $4,100, while many Americans travel to Peru or Costa Rica to drink with indigenous healers.

With more than 1,000 ayahuasca ceremonies and over 1,600 participants since 2017, many of them from the US, our team at APL Journeys has seen what makes a retreat safe. This guide covers the churches and retreats operating in the US, what the law says and the closest options abroad. Prices were checked on each center's website in October 2026.

In the US, ayahuasca is offered in three ways: by churches with federal protection, mostly for their own members; by churches and centers without an exemption, which run weekend ceremonies or week-long retreats; and by individuals in private homes, which carries the highest risk. Ayahuasca (also known as iowaska or ayawaska) is a powerful brew that affects body and mind for many hours, so before you book, check who serves it, how you will be screened and what support you get afterwards.

Ayahuasca contains DMT, a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, so the brew is illegal in the US unless a church is protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The best-known cases are the União do Vegetal, after a 2006 Supreme Court ruling; Santo Daime, after a 2009 federal court decision in Oregon; the Church of the Eagle and the Condor in Arizona, through a 2024 settlement with the DEA; and Church of Gaia in Washington, which in May 2025 received the first DEA exemption granted by petition, without going to court. According to the Government Accountability Office, the DEA had rejected all 24 petitions it received between 2016 and 2024. For the full picture, see our guide to the legality of ayahuasca.

Most ayahuasca ceremonies in the US are run by churches without federal protection, from small groups in Texas to weekend retreats in Maine and Florida. Some ceremonies are held in private homes or led by people who call themselves shamans after little training. Before you go, check who leads the ceremony, in which tradition, how participants are screened and what happens in an emergency.

Weekend church ceremonies in the USA usually cost $550 to $1,000; see our full guide to ayahuasca retreat cost.

No US state has legalized ayahuasca. A few have moved further than federal law, but none of these changes makes a retreat legal:

• Colorado: Proposition 122 (2022) decriminalized personal possession of DMT for adults 21 and over. The state's regulated healing centers can offer only psilocybin.
• Cities: Denver, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor, Seattle and Washington, DC have made natural psychedelics a low enforcement priority.
• Arizona: the Arizona Yagé Assembly and Vine of Light Church are suing the DEA, and a federal judge has allowed their case to move forward.
• Florida and Maine: a Central Florida church sued the government after a federal raid (February 2026), and Pachamama Sanctuary in Maine filed a similar lawsuit in May 2026.

For more state-by-state detail, see our guide to the legality of ayahuasca.

The first seven entries are churches and centers inside the US; the last three are the closest options abroad for travelers who want to drink with indigenous healers. We have not attended the US ceremonies ourselves: the information comes from each group's website, court records and news reports, checked in October 2026.

The first seven entries are churches and centers inside the US; the last three are the closest options abroad for travelers who want to drink with indigenous healers. We have not attenThe Santo Daime religion began in the Brazilian Amazon in the 1930s and combines Christian elements with the ritual use of ayahuasca, called Daime. Its ceremonies, known as works, include hymn singing, dancing or seated concentration and can last many hours. In 2009 a federal court allowed the Church of the Holy Light of the Queen in Ashland, Oregon, to use Daime under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and Santo Daime groups now meet in several states. Newcomers can usually attend after a conversation with the group's leaders. This is a religious practice, not a retreat with integration support.

Location: Oregon and other states
Format: religious ceremonies (works), often several hours long
Cost: donations
Legal status: federal court protection since 2009ded the US ceremonies ourselves: the information comes from each group's website, court records and news reports, checked in October 2026.

The União do Vegetal (UDV) is a Brazilian religion that uses ayahuasca, which it calls hoasca or Vegetal, as a sacrament. In 2006 the US Supreme Court ruled in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal that the government could not stop the church's religious use of the tea. The UDV has centers in New Mexico and other states, but it does not run retreats: sessions are for members and invited guests, and people join the community over time.

Location: New Mexico and other states
Format: regular religious sessions for members
Cost: no retreat fee
Legal status: protected by the 2006 Supreme Court ruling

Church of Gaia is a non-denominational church based in Spokane, Washington. In May 2025 it became the first church to receive a religious exemption from the DEA to use ayahuasca through the petition process, without going to court. Ceremonies are held for members, and the church asks people to contact it directly about joining.

Location: Spokane, Washington
Format: ceremonies for members
Cost: contact the church
Legal status: DEA religious exemption since May 2025

Pachamama Sanctuary holds ayahuasca ceremonies on 40 acres in Casco, Maine, after moving from New Hampshire, and also runs ceremonies in Central Florida. Its weekend retreat includes two ceremonies over two nights. In May 2026 the sanctuary sued several federal agencies, saying that seizures of its plant shipments violated its religious freedom; the case is ongoing.

Location: Casco, Maine and Central Florida
Format: weekend, 3 days and 2 nights, 2 ceremonies
Cost: from $997
Legal status: no federal exemption; lawsuit filed in May 2026

New Life Rising is a Texas church that runs retreats on a river ranch about two hours from Austin. It is led by a husband-and-wife team supposedly trained in the Peruvian mestizo tradition. Groups are capped at 14 people, and programs include medical screening, meals and integration support.

Location: near Austin, Texas
Format: 6 or 8 days, 2 to 3 ceremonies
Cost: $2,700 to $4,100
Legal status: registered as a church; no federal exemption

Two Birds Church is a non-profit church in Anna, Texas, north of Dallas. Its two-night ceremonies take up to six people and are led by James and Christina. First-timers complete a preparation course and a screening call before they attend.

Location: Anna, Texas
Format: 2 nights, up to 6 people
Cost: $550 plus a $100 deposit
Legal status: no federal exemption

The Church of the Eagle and the Condor is a Phoenix church that uses ayahuasca in its ceremonies. In 2024 it reached a settlement with the DEA that allows it to import and use ayahuasca under strict conditions on security, documentation and safety. Ceremonies are for members.

Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Format: ceremonies for members
Cost: contact the church
Legal status: DEA settlement since 2024

Soltara runs two centers in Costa Rica, where ceremonies are led by Shipibo healers with a Western support team and an on-site clinic. The center reports approval from Costa Rica's Ministry of Health and includes a year of integration support. Costa Rica is three to four hours by air from Miami or Houston. Members of our team have worked with Soltara.

Location: Costa Rica (two centers)
Program: 5, 7 or 12 nights
Cost: from $2,975 for 5 nights

Founded in 2007 near Iquitos, the Temple of the Way of Light is one of Peru's best-known centers, working with Shipibo healers. It screens every applicant medically and psychologically, offers an integration program and says all of its profits go to projects in the Amazon. From the US, Iquitos is reached via Lima. Members of our team have worked with the Temple.

Location: near Iquitos, Peru
Program: 8 or 12 days, or 12 days plus a 5-day integration program
Cost: from $3,330 for 8 days

Where the main groups on this list hold ceremonies:

• Texas: Two Birds Church north of Dallas and New Life Rising near Austin.
• Florida: weekend ceremonies in the Orlando area, including Pachamama Sanctuary's Central Florida events. Check any Florida group carefully after the Soul Quest case described below.
• Maine: Pachamama Sanctuary in Casco.
• Washington: Church of Gaia in Spokane.
• Arizona: the Church of the Eagle and the Condor in Phoenix.
• New Mexico and Oregon: the União do Vegetal and Santo Daime.
• California and New York: see our guides to ayahuasca retreats in California and ayahuasca retreats in New York.

Most ayahuasca groups in the US are religious communities or are not led by indigenous healers. For many Americans, the most direct way to drink ayahuasca within a living tradition, and within the law, is to travel. Peru is reached via Lima, Costa Rica is three to four hours by air from Miami or Houston, and Spain is a short connection from most US airports. In Peru, ayahuasca has been recognized as part of the national cultural heritage since 2008. Compare more centers in our list of the best ayahuasca retreats in the world.

A search for an ayahuasca retreat near you will turn up churches, private ceremonies and listing sites. Use the same checks for each:

• Who leads the ceremony, in which tradition, and how long they have trained
• How you are screened for medications, heart conditions and mental health history
• How many facilitators are present, and whether anyone on the team has medical or therapeutic credentials
• What the emergency plan is and how far the nearest hospital is
• What integration support you get after the ceremony

Red flags: no screening questionnaire, groups of 20 or more with a single leader, promises of cures, pressure to pay in full straight away, and ayahuasca combined with other substances on the same weekend.

These checks matter. In 2018, a 22-year-old participant died after ceremonies at Soul Quest, an ayahuasca church near Orlando, Florida. In 2024 a jury found the church and its owner negligent and ordered them to pay $15 million; an ambulance had not been called for more than three hours after he became unresponsive.

Ayahuasca (also known as iowaska or ayawaska) is a potent plant-based medicine. Traditionally, it is served in the form of a tea, consisting of two plants: Ayahuasca itself, or Banisteriopsis caapi, a vine native to the Amazon rainforest, revered as the "Mother of all Amazonian Medicines and Plants" by indigenous communities, and another plant called Chacruna.

Chacruna, or Psychotria viridis, is the component that contains DMT (Dimethyltryptamine), a powerful psychedelic molecule. The combination of Chacruna and Ayahuasca creates a brew known for its visual and spiritual effects.

No. Ayahuasca contains DMT, a Schedule I controlled substance in the US. Schedule I substances are considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, and the FDA has not approved ayahuasca for any medical purpose.

Only within churches that have federal protection: the União do Vegetal, Santo Daime, the Church of the Eagle and the Condor and Church of Gaia. Their ceremonies are mainly for members. No state has legalized ayahuasca, although Colorado has decriminalized personal possession of DMT. For details, see our guide to the legality of ayahuasca.

A weekend church ceremony in the US usually costs $550 to $1,000, and a week-long retreat $2,700 to $4,100. Churches with federal protection mostly ask members for donations instead of a retreat fee. For prices around the world, see our guide to ayahuasca retreat costs.

Safety depends on the people running the ceremony more than on the country. Before you book, check:

• Legal status: whether the group has federal protection or operates without it
• Leadership: who serves the brew, in which tradition and with how much training
• Screening: a medical and psychological questionnaire before you are accepted
• Emergency plan: trained staff on site and a clear way to reach a hospital
• Integration: support after the ceremony to process the experience

Independent reviews of US ceremonies are scattered, because many churches do not list on booking sites. Read reviews on several platforms, search the news for the group's name and ask to speak with past participants before you book.

Most US ayahuasca ceremonies are weekend programs of two nights and three days. Examples include Two Birds Church in Texas ($550 plus a $100 deposit) and Pachamama Sanctuary in Maine (from $997). Check each group's screening and legal status before booking.

Ayahuasca churches hold ceremonies in many states, including Texas, Florida, Maine, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and New Mexico. Distance matters less than safety: use the checks in this guide, and consider traveling abroad if no group near you meets them.