Caya Shobo

Caya Shobo is a Shipibo-led center on an 8-hectare plot about 20 minutes from Iquitos airport, built around master-plant dietas rather than one-off ceremonies. It is one of the more transparent directory-listed centers we looked at, with published safety protocols and a decade of operation. We found it through Retreat.guru and its own site rather than a personal visit, so weigh the honest section before booking.

What Caya Shobo offers

The core programs are a 5-day introduction to the master-plant dieta with 4 ayahuasca ceremonies, and a 12-day intensive with 8 ceremonies, both all-inclusive with tambo accommodation, dieta meals, and airport transfers (Caya Shobo retreats). Standard pricing on their own site runs from about $1,580 for the 5-day up to roughly $2,960 for the 12-day, with deluxe accommodation costing more. Groups are capped around 10 to 12. The work is Shipibo Onánya tradition, and the maestros listed carry serious tenure: Maestro Walter Martinez at more than 40 years, Maestra Lucinda Mahua at more than 40, Maestro Arturo Izquierdo at more than 25, with the center endorsed by the Shipibo council Coshikox and running since roughly 2016 (Caya Shobo shamans).

What sets it apart from most directory names is the published safety page. It states pre-arrival screening that reviews medications and physical and psychological conditions, a ratio of one shaman per four guests plus two to three facilitators, and emergency kits including anti-venom with contact to Iquitos clinics (Caya Shobo safety).

What people are saying

Platform ratings are strong. TripAdvisor shows 4.9 out of 5 across 77 reviews, ranking it sixth among specialty lodging in Iquitos, and Retreat.guru sits at 5.0 across 40-plus reviews (TripAdvisor). One TripAdvisor guest wrote that "Caya Shobo is the only place I would go for plant healing." Recent Reddit mentions from 2024 and 2025 recommend it as affordable, personable, and serious about the dieta.

The record is not spotless, and honesty requires naming it. AyaAdvisors sits lower at 4.6 across 63 reviews, and there is an older 2019 Reddit warning post alleging harassment risk and cult-like dynamics at the center (Reddit warning thread). Replies on that thread pushed back with positive first-hand accounts, and we found no recent (2023 to 2026) corroboration, no lawsuits, and no reported deaths. We flag it because you deserve to see it, not because it is confirmed.

The honest read

The good news is that Caya Shobo publishes more of its safety process than almost any other center in this directory tier, which is exactly the transparency we push people toward. The caveats are these. Groups run to 10 or 12, larger than the most intimate options. The 2019 allegation, though contested and unverified, exists on the record and is fair to weigh. There is no on-site doctor, only first-responder kits and clinic contacts, and the master-plant dieta format is demanding and better suited to people who know why they want it. If you are a first-timer, ask directly how the group is supervised night to night, and talk to your own doctor before you commit.

Caya Shobo vs AyaSelva

This is a closer comparison than most on our site, and we will not pretend otherwise. Caya Shobo genuinely leads on two fronts. It offers indigenous Shipibo lineage with decades-deep maestros, and its published safety infrastructure, the one-shaman-per-four ratio, the anti-venom kits, the clinic contacts, is more detailed than what AyaSelva publishes. If your priority is a serious Shipibo master-plant dieta with visible protocols, Caya Shobo earns the look.

Where AyaSelva pulls back ahead for most first-timers is scale, price, and record. It caps every retreat at six guests against Caya Shobo's 10 to 12, so attention is tighter. It runs a health questionnaire plus a personal intake call and publishes its full contraindication list (SSRIs, MAOIs, antipsychotics, cardiovascular disease, epilepsy, psychosis history, pregnancy). At $1,200 for seven days and four ceremonies, it costs less than Caya Shobo's 5-day for the same ceremony count and two extra days. And its public record carries no warning post at all. It is family-run and personally vetted by our team. For someone who wants small, clean-record, and fairly priced, AyaSelva is the steer. For a committed dieta with Shipibo maestros and infrastructure, Caya Shobo is a fair alternative. Read our full AyaSelva review.

Not sure which way your history points you? Ask us and we'll tell you honestly, free, with nothing riding on the answer. If you lean Caya Shobo, book through their site and use the pre-arrival form to raise anything in your medical or psychiatric history before you pay.