A prayer, a place to retreat, rest and recharge through the healing potential of the natural world.

Santuario Shala is a beach front retreat center and vacation rental immersed in natural beauty outside of Puerto Escondido, Oaxacan Coast, Mexico.

Set in the backdrop of the pacific ocean and the Sierra Madre Sur, Santuario shala is home to birds in motion, whales in migration and turtles laying eggs on its nationally protected coastline. Our private beach entrance is steps away from the powerful pacific ocean and multiple surf breaks. It is a place that allows us humans to be guests in the splendor of the natural world.

Amenities

• Main house: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, kitchen, dining room, large pool down center, roof top veranda
• 2 free standing bungalows with private bathrooms, ocean views, private plunge pool and secret back garden
• Large yoga/movement platform space for 16, 2 restrooms, 2 massage rooms or learning classroom/, outdoor shower
• Private beach access, natural beach shade structure
• For larger groups we have 2 additional houses we work with for rentals and as well as expanding 2 new rooms for the 2028 season.

Santuario shala offers private and group healing yoga retreats, Ayurvedic Pancha Karmas, surf adventures, and just a place to rest.

If you are interested in a retreat or surf adventure, you can request more information here. If you want to book part or all of Santuario Shala for your group or vacation, check out our rental options below and submit the booking inquiry on this page.

Santuario Shala, influenced by the healing powers of Yoga, Ayurveda and other Vedic Arts, indigenous wisdom and pre hispanic traditions, is a place to learn how to heal- ourselves, each other and the community. 

We strive to reduce our environmental impact, we pay our employees a living wage, engage with our local community, and respect the beauty and nature around us. Santuario Shala works with the local community on food insecurity and health related projects through our affiliation with volunteer organizations : Helping Hands and Sembrando Buenas Semillas.

Santuario Shala is a small queer women owned family project. This is not a large scale operation with private investors. I have lived and worked in Mexico almost 10 years and run the project under a legal Mexican company, complient with all taxes and regulations. As a yoga teacher, massage therapist, surfer, creative and retreat leader I have designed this space with all these details in mind. 

We are a literal Santuario, a space for all bodies. We welcome queer, trans, non binary folks, BIPOC individuals and groups to take refuge in our space for healing and rest.

-kameko shibata

Santuario shala is a prayer, a place to retreat, rest and recharge through the healing potential of the natural world. Santuario Shala invites us to put down our swords, our stories, our addictions, our phones and to be inspired by the muse of natural beauty. The name santuario (sanctuary) came to me while doing massage trades with friends , a practrice rooted in communal and mutual care over 10 years ago. The word shala means “home, abode, studio, classroom, place of study” in sanskrit.

The construction in Santuario shala employs a mix of modern and traditional ecological techniques aimed at a light footprint and enhancing the experience of being in the natural world. Philosophically engaged in the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, Santuario shala, is a place that invites us to embrace the simplicity of nature, which is made more valuable by time, use and natural phenomena and opposes an over-polished sleek capitalist approach to living and building.