If you are flying into Cancún for an ayahuasca retreat near Cancun, Lunita is about forty minutes from the airport and a world away from the hotel zone. You land, drive a short while, and the concrete gives way to jungle. This page is about arriving from Cancún and the place that holds the work; for the full retreat, read our complete guide to an ayahuasca retreat in Mexico at Lunita, and for the medicine itself, what ayahuasca is.
Near Cancun, a world away
Lunita is in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, on the Ruta de los Cenotes, in the heart of the Riviera Maya. That matters. This is not Tulum, not Playa del Carmen, and not Cancun city. It is the low jungle between them, about forty minutes from Cancun airport by car, so you land, drive a short while, and the concrete gives way to trees. By the time you arrive, the pace has already changed.
The setting that holds the work
The property is around 5,000 square meters of built space, surrounded by more than 80,000 square meters of preserved jungle, so the forest wraps the whole site rather than bordering it. Lunita runs 100 percent on solar power and is fully off-grid, with cenote-fed water on the land. Ceremonies are held in the Crystal Shala, an octagonal glass space that opens to the trees on every side. A private partner cenote about ten minutes away, not on the property, is where guests swim and sit after ceremony. Since opening in November 2022 we have held more than 120 retreats, and guests have left us 4.9 stars across 140+ Google reviews and 4.9 stars across 40+ TripAdvisor reviews. A temazcal in the Mexican and Nahuatl tradition is offered as its own ceremony, on its own terms, not a step before anything else; see our temazcal page.
Who guides the ceremonies
The ayahuasca ceremonies are guided by Edgar, a Zapotec ceremony carrier who has held plant-medicine ceremonies for more than twenty years and carries one of the most respected lineages in Mexico. You can read more on our ayahuasca ceremony page. He does not diagnose your experience or hand it a doctrine. The care wraps around the ceremony nights: an individual intake before, presence through the night, and an integration circle the next morning. Groups stay small on purpose, so no one disappears in the back row and each person is held closely.
What the night is like here
An ayahuasca night at Lunita is long, quiet, and held close, in a small circle rather than a crowd. It happens in the Crystal Shala, where the glass opens to the jungle on every side, so the trees and the dark and the night sounds are part of the room. Edgar opens with prayer and song and stays present until morning. What holds the work is as much the container as the ceremony itself: the preparation before, the way the night is carried, and the days that follow. Mornings are slow, with rest, shared meals, and time near the cenote, so what surfaced has somewhere to land. We keep the framing experiential and we are honest about fit in your intake. We make no medical claims and no promises of healing, and anything about your medications is a conversation for your own doctor, not for us. When you are ready, we shape a personal ayahuasca retreat with you. For the fuller picture of the medicine before you decide, start with the ayahuasca guide, then read how to prepare for your retreat.