10 Best Wachuma (San Pedro) Retreats in 2024
While ayahuasca can take you on an inward journey, wachuma allows you to (re)connect with the natural world. But much like ayahuasca, wachuma ceremonies support incredible healing and teach you to bring your life into balance. Keep reading to learn more about what wachuma is, as well as where you can go on a journey with this plant for yourself.
What is wachuma?
Wachuma (sometimes called huachuma) is derived from the San Pedro cactus, which is believed to have powerful healing properties. This plant medicine is used as part of ancestral ceremonies where participants rediscover themselves and commune with Mother Nature. Typically, wachuma is served as a potent brew that when consumed, enables personal transformation and healing — like overcoming blockages and finding inner peace.
For more than 3,500 years, the visionary San Pedro cactus has been used by a number of civilizations throughout the Andes Mountains. Today, there are wachuma retreats around the world that have helped thousands of people reach a heightened sense of consciousness.
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10 best wachuma retreats for 2024
1. The Healing Tree Center
The Healing Tree has created a tranquil and supportive environment where guests can receive treatment with both ayahuasca and wachuma. Their retreat center is situated in the Sacred Valley of Peru, surrounded by mountains, rivers, forests, and rolling hills on all sides. In between various ceremonies and group activities, guests can immerse themselves in this lush environment and intentionally connect with all the beauty of Mother Nature.
The team at Healing Tree is dedicated to ‘professionalism, patient comfort, health, and safety,’ meaning you can trust them to provide a welcoming and nourishing experience for all.
Location(s): Peru
Price range: starting at $320 for a 1-day retreat
2. Vine of the Soul
Vine of the Soul Retreats offers a carefully curated experience that prioritizes safety and integration of ancient wisdom with modern understanding. With small group sizes and a high facilitator-to-guest ratio, experienced guides from diverse backgrounds help participants address past traumas and limiting beliefs while bridging spirituality with psychology and science.
Nutritious meals and inclusive integration packages provide comprehensive support, while activities like yoga, painting, and breathwork enhance the retreat experience. Numerous positive reviews highlight the integrity and care of the facilitators.
Location(s): Portugal
Price range: Prices start at €780 for a weekend with 2 ceremonies.
3. The Lighthouse Retreat
Lighthouse Retreat is located in the heart of the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. The property itself is filled with amazing views and more than 40 different types of fruit trees — you’ll find figs, oranges, lemons, pears, and so much more. This peaceful environment is the perfect place to relax, recharge, and reflect on both your internal and external world.
All of the ceremonies at Lighthouse are conducted with your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual safety in mind. And because these retreats happen in a group setting, guests can gain new perspectives on life and ‘create a compassionate and collective union of understanding.’
Location(s): Portugal
Price range: starting at ~$290 for a 1-day retreat
4. Samadi Healing
At Peru’s Samadi Healing, guests have access to everything they need to get the most out of their plant medicine experience. This includes custom massages, yin yoga sessions, and offsite excursions to help balance your mind and body while you’re at this retreat. Essentially, the schedule is designed to nurture a flow between each of the deeply transformative ceremonies.
Speaking of ceremonies, Samadi specializes in ayahuasca and wachuma — all of which is guided by professionally trained shamans and facilitators who have years of experience in their field. In other words, their team is ready to offer all the guidance and support you may need.
Location(s): Peru
Price range: starting at $1,670 for a 7-day retreat
5. Shamanic Vine Spiritual Retreat Center
During sessions at Shamanic Vine, guests can ‘enjoy Mother Nature in her maximum harmony and perfection,’ while also making connections with the ‘beauty of Peru’s rich history.’ When you participate in one of their spiritual retreats, you have an opportunity to consider new perspectives and ideologies away from distracting screens and/or the noises of society.
All of Shamanic Vine’s ceremonies are performed by native healers, and include a spiritual cleansing to remove negativity and impart more positive energy. Guests can also schedule solo consultations with the shamans to interpret their visions or process their healing more in-depth.
Location(s): Peru
Price range: starting at $550 for a 3-day retreat
6. Wachuma Integrative Retreat Center
Wachuma Integrative Retreat Center prides itself on the care, compassion, and love they share with each of their guests through ancestral healing therapies. Their ceremonies are not only geared towards your physical well-being, but they’re also focused on your mental and energetic state, as well — meaning you’ll have a really holistic view of your own healing.
As their website states, this is a ‘beautiful and intense retreat’ where guests can connect with nature as they work towards their spiritual and personal growth. Many participants have said the wachuma retreats helped them overcome their depression, anxiety, stress, and sadness.
Location(s): Peru
Price range: starting at $390 for a 2-day retreat
7. Shamanic Space
The founders of Shamanic Space set out to create a bridge between the modern world and the ancient, indigenous wisdom of Peru. Today, they offer intimate, ceremonial retreats for those who want to experience the transformative powers of ayahuasca and wachuma.
At Shamanic Space, safety is of the utmost importance — which is why their retreats are primarily for small groups (so their team can provide more individualized care and attention). They offer a ‘unique and authentic opportunity’ to experience the profound healing properties of wachuma, and to find balance on a spiritual, mental, and emotional level.
Location(s): Portugal
Price range: starting at ~$1,260 for a 3-day retreat
8. Casa Del Sol
The mission of Casa Del Sol is to facilitate a space where every guest can connect with their heart, their spirit, and their creative nature. Their retreats are aimed at helping participants live with a ‘deep, healing relationship with divine creation and Mother Earth.’
To achieve these lofty goals, a package from Casa Del Sol includes: two ayahuasca ceremonies, a traditional wachuma ceremony, a wachuma ceremony with a sweat lodge, and even a wachuma mountain hike. There are also workshops, rest days, sharing circles, and integration activities built into the itinerary so each guest walks away truly transformed.
Location(s): Ecuador
Price range: starting at $1,700 for an 11-day retreat
9. San Pedro Workshops
San Pedro Workshops in Ecuador offers 14, 21, and 30-day retreats for you to choose from. During each of their workshops, guests have multiple opportunities for personal reflection and introspection. This happens through guided meditation, relaxation therapy, shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, massage and bodywork, dream interpretation, and even inner child work.
By utilizing so many different tools and healing methods, San Pedro Workshops feels confident they can permanently change your life for the better. However long you spend at their facility, there’s no doubt you’ll come away with a deeper, more unconditional love for your life.
Location(s): Ecuador
Price range: starting at $1,800 for an 14-day retreat
10. TOSA Blue Mountain
TOSA Blue Mountain is tucked away in the stunning Andean Valley of Ecuador, and is a true sanctuary for anyone seeking the healing benefits of plant medicine. Wachuma journeys at TOSA offer unique, personalized experiences that are carefully crafted around your personal goals or intentions. In other words, the whole retreat is tailored to meet your needs.
Guests have the option to take part in a team ceremony, San Pedro ceremony, guided mountain hikes, and a purification ceremony at the onsite sweat lodge. In addition, guests also have access to meditation and prayer caves, yoga studio, sauna, and an indoor water therapy center.
Location(s): Ecuador
Price range: starting at $635 for an 5-day retreat
Common FAQs about wachuma
Is wachuma legal in the U.S.?
Growing or owning San Pedro — the cactus that produces wachuma — is legal in the United States as long as there’s no intent to sell or consume the plant as a psychedelic. So in that way, the legality of the San Pedro cactus comes down to the intention behind it. To use San Pedro for ceremonial or healing purposes, most people will travel to Europe or South America.
How is wachuma consumed?
Wachuma is typically prepared as a tea when consumed in ancestral ceremonies. The stems of the San Pedro cactus are boiled for several hours, and then once the liquid has cooled, it’s ingested orally. From most accounts, this tea is said to purify and balance your body, mind, and spirit, and can help to create more lightness throughout your life experience.
How much does a wachuma retreat cost?
The cost for attending a wachuma retreat varies depending on where you’re traveling to, the level of your accommodations, as well as the length of your stay (ranging from a few days to a few weeks’ time). Some wachuma retreats can run as little as $300, while others cost a few thousand dollars for a longer stay and more upscale amenities.