Warning on record
Garden of Peace
Subject of a 2024 r/Ayahuasca thread titled as an AVOID warning, with complaints centered on owner "Ash": exploitation concerns and poor communication. The picture is contested, not settled. Repeat visitors in the same discussion defend the maestro and the rigor of the dieta, and the original post was deleted though it remains heavily referenced.
On record
2024 thread titled "Honest review of Ayahuasca retreat in Peru 2024 AVOID GARDEN of Peace"; complaints center on owner "Ash" (exploitation concerns, poor communication). Counterpoint: repeat visitors defend the maestro and the dieta rigor, and the original post was deleted. Treat as contested, not settled. source
| Region | Elsewhere in Peru |
|---|---|
| Price | on request |
We list Garden of Peace with a caution, not a recommendation. It is a real, operating center near Tarapoto with a beautiful setting and a core of guests who return year after year, but it also sits at the center of a contested r/Ayahuasca thread that told people to avoid it. Both of those things are true at once, and the honest job of this page is to lay out both sides with their sources so you can decide with clear eyes.
What Garden of Peace offers
The center is about an hour's drive from Tarapoto, in the San Martín region where the Andes meet the Amazon, founded in 2014 by owner-host Ashley Avery, known as Ash. It runs customized ayahuasca and master-plant dieta retreats, with 10-day and 21-day programs listed on Retreat.guru, working with Shipibo and Mestizo healers. Exact current pricing and per-retreat ceremony counts were not published in our research pass, so treat those as unconfirmed until you ask directly.
To its credit, the center does publish a medical guidelines page listing contraindications, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, serious heart conditions, and incompatible medications, and it recommends a full medical checkup including an ECG before arrival. That is more than some small centers put in writing, and it is worth acknowledging alongside the concerns below.
What people are saying
This is where the picture splits hard, and you should read both sides yourself. The directory ratings look healthy: AyaAdvisors shows 4.8 across 16 reviews, Retreat.guru 4.81, and a BookRetreats guest called it the "best 2 weeks of my life." Repeat visitors are the strongest defenders, with several describing multiple long dietas since 2019 and praising Ash as caring and knowledgeable.
The criticism is just as pointed. A 2024 r/Ayahuasca thread was titled, in part, "AVOID GARDEN of Peace", with complaints centering on the owner, alleging poor communication and that guests felt misled. A separate 2026 post titled "Ayahuasca Abandonment" described someone leaving a long program early. Some AyaAdvisors comments echo that, alleging exploitation, even as others in the same place call the land "beautiful and very magical" and the "shaman and his family very kind." These are unproven allegations from guests, not findings from any investigation, and defenders dispute them directly. If a split verdict like this leaves you uneasy, send us the details and we will help you read it.
The honest read
Here is our plain take. No reputable news outlet has reported a death, lawsuit, or misconduct case tied to Garden of Peace, and we found none. What exists is a cluster of serious guest complaints about owner conduct and communication, contested by loyal repeat visitors, with the original AVOID post since deleted but still widely referenced. That is a genuinely contested reputation, not a settled one, and for a first-timer that ambiguity is itself a reason to slow down.
The practical caveats compound it: pricing and ceremony counts are not clearly published, and while contraindications are listed, we found no detail on in-house medical staff or a facilitator-to-guest ratio. Long dietas in a remote valley demand real trust in the operator, so if you are seriously considering it, contact past guests from both camps, read our safety guide, and ask Ash directly about the complaints before you send any money.
Garden of Peace vs AyaSelva
To be fair to Garden of Peace, it has strengths AyaSelva cannot claim: a striking Tarapoto setting, published medical guidelines, deep master-plant dieta options, and a group of guests genuinely devoted to it. For an experienced dieta seeker who has vetted it personally and come away reassured, it may work.
For most first-timers, though, the contrast is the whole point. AyaSelva carries no AVOID thread, no abandonment complaint, and no disputed owner reputation, just a small, clean record. It publishes its full contraindication list, states each guest completes a health questionnaire and a personal intake call, caps every retreat at six guests, and is run by a family our team vetted directly. At $1,200 for seven days it is transparent about what the price buys. When one center's reputation is settled and calm and another's is actively contested, the calmer one is the easier place to send a nervous first-timer. Read our full AyaSelva review and compare the two honestly.
If you are weighing Garden of Peace against a center with a quieter record, tell us what draws you to it and we will give you a straight, free answer, including the reasons to think twice.