Waves of Grief Retreat Costa Rica

We come to this work carrying many kinds of grief. Some of us are grieving the loss of someone we love. Others are grieving what feels broken in the world — the violence, the injustice, the divisions, the sense of helplessness or heartbreak that can come from witnessing so much suffering. Many of us are holding both.

The Waves of Grief Retreat is a space where all of this belongs. Here, we make room for personal and collective grief alike, tending what aches within us while remembering that we are not alone. Choosing to stay present, connected and open-hearted is itself an act of courage that allows us to experience all this life has to offer. As writer and poet, Nayyirah Waheed so simply, yet profoundly states, “Grieve. So that you can be free to feel something else.”

Riding the Waves

Grief is raw, messy and unpredictable. It may feel uncomfortable, or even counterintuitive, but allowing it to rise, like riding a wave, catching our breath and staying mindful between sets helps us find our footing again.

At the Waves of Grief Retreat we’ll embrace the waves, both literally and figuratively — holding space for one another and cheering each other on. Our intention is to guide you to tap into your intuition, listen to your inner knowing, build resilience and step into new ways of being with what is — learning to live with grief and gratitude, rage and hope, rest and action — and to rediscover passion, creativity and joy.

By offering a safe container for both inner and outer exploration, this retreat helps you navigate life’s inevitable waves of grief. You’ll be invited to be awed by the beauty around you, to cultivate gratitude that sustains you through hard times, and to live more present, embodied and connected.

Ocean Medicine. Community. Ritual.

Here the ocean is both teacher and healer — holding us, reminding us we’re part of something greater, that there’s only so much we can control, and that we’re never alone. The Waves of Grief Retreat invites you to gather in community to honor, express and share our grief, at a time when the sorrows of the world call for spaces to grieve, heal and remember our shared humanity. It only helps to be in this natural setting that evokes awe and belonging.

We all carry grief that needs tending — with time, space, and compassionate attention — so it can move through us in its own rhythm. In doing so, we clear the way for joy, gratitude and hope, along with a stronger sense of meaning and deeper connection to ourselves, each other and the beauty around us.

Holding it all…together.

Life is a steady flow of highs and lows, joys and sorrows, victories and losses. Recognizing that we’re all in this together invites us to lean in with kindness and compassion, stay present and engaged, and choose to live to the fullest. We created this retreat as a space to reconnect with yourself, strengthen bonds, cultivate joy and foster community.

Healing isn’t about “getting over it” or “moving on.” It’s about moving forward even when we don’t want to, letting go of what no longer serves us, integrating new ways of being in the world and choosing to engage in life, inside grief.

Through nature-based therapies, embodiment practices and meaningful connection, we offer experiences and tools that empower individuals, families and communities — to push back against the cultural norms of grieving in isolation, and to embrace the healing power of community that is essential to our shared humanity and our future on this planet.

Grief work is soul work. As we tend to our inner worlds, our hearts naturally begin to open, to reach outward — toward others, toward life itself. When we grieve together, we remember that love is still present, that laughter can coexist with loss, and that joy, when shared, becomes a form of healing too.

The Jungle is Calling!

Set in a lush tropical paradise in Costa Rica, surrounded by the warm healing waters of the Pacific Ocean, this retreat integrates a heart-centered, embodied approach to life, love and living.

Expect rest, eco-therapy adventures, and daily embodiments practices, including yoga, meditation, journaling, surfing, waterfall hikes and optional horseback rides through the jungle and along the beach. You’ll have the chance to unplug, get out of your head, and reconnect with yourself and your loved ones amidst the beauty and magic of Costa Rica.

Come alone, bring a friend, or bring your whole family to our 2026 Grief Retreat in Costa Rica. This is your invitation to gift yourself the perfect balance of rest, connection and play — with no expectations, except to tune in and listen to what your body needs.

A Place to Feel, Connect and Belong

The Waves of Grief Retreat in Costa Rica is a chance to rest, reflect, and re-engage in a life that feels meaningful. We create opportunities to feel connected on a deeper leve to things that really matter, to build resiliency and a greater sense of belonging. We’re here to create new bonds and strengthen old ones — grieving, laughing, and making beautiful memories together.

We’ll embrace the waves, both literally and figuratively — holding space for one another, cheering each other on — experiencing grief, joy, wonder and awe all at the same time.

Come prepared to celebrate love, life, and the gift of community in this beautifully wild and free jungle paradise.

Read guest reviews from past TwoCan Retreats!

Your Hosts & Facilitators

Meet Mike and Stacy

Mike and Stacy McCrory are partners in life and co-founders of TwoCan Retreats, as well as Regional Directors for the Waves of Grief Collective™. In addition to leading grief retreats in Costa Rica and weekend retreats Santa Barbara, they host monthly Waves of Grief community gatherings at the beach in Santa Barbara.

After the loss of their oldest son in 2016, they committed themselves to creating spaces where grief can be met with honesty and compassion. Their work invites participants to learn how to carry loss while continuing to engage fully in life.

Rooted in their love of the ocean, family, and community, Mike and Stacy believe grief is meant to be carried together and that healing happens in community.

Stacy McCrory

Stacy is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California, the founder of TwoCan Retreats, and the Santa Barbara Regional Director for the Waves of Grief Collective™. For more than 25 years, she has supported individuals, couples, and families navigating grief, trauma, divorce, and other major life transitions. Stacy also volunteers her time as an end-of life doula in Santa Barbara. Her work is grounded in mindfulness, self-compassion, and a deep respect for the complexity of being human.

A longtime student of grief, embodiment, and conscious living, Stacy brings both clinical depth and lived experience to the spaces she facilitates. She believes grief and gratitude can coexist — and that healing happens most powerfully in community and in connection with nature.

Read more on Stacy’s background here.

Mike McCrory

Mike has spent his career in hospitality and tourism, and at TwoCan Retreats he brings both professional experience and lived depth to the retreats he co-hosts. He oversees logistics — from travel coordination and transportation to local partnerships and daily retreat details — ensuring that guests feel safe, supported, and free to focus on their experience. 

The loss of his son profoundly shaped his understanding of grief, resilience, and the importance of community. While he does not facilitate formal sessions, Mike’s lived experience, along with his steady, compassionate presence is an integral part of the retreat container. Participants experience him as grounded and attentive.

Whether coordinating behind the scenes or offering encouragement during an activity, Mike helps create an atmosphere of safety, care and genuine connection.

Sandy Schmidt

Sandy K. Schmidt is a certified yoga teacher, meditation guide, and Ayurveda practitioner. She has been teaching in Costa Rica for the past seven years. Her approach is passionately focused on understanding yoga as a philosophy of life, and as a support system in assisting individuals as they navigate through their grief and major life transitions, including the death of a loved one. On the mat, she finds that yoga frees and opens our body through movement and breath, while off-mat practice opens our mind and perspective. By practicing both, in our healing journey we grow in the totality of our being, body and mind, and more easily experience the union of all aspects of life.

Find more info on Sandy’s background here.

Sofia Caraballo

The breathwork and sound healing experience performed by Sofia Caraballo is a conscious practice at remembering your genuine essence and rewiring your whole potential. It’s an invitation to become aware of your natural rhythm, flow at our own pace and trust your intuition.

Each experience is an opportunity to connect deeply with yourself and observe your breath with mindful attention. It’s about making every little corner more breathable. We breathe with intention in order to feel more deeply, to trust, let go, and surrender to the waves of life’s ups and downs through prana and vital energy.

This 90-minute practice includes breathwork, skilled guidance and sound healing, immersed in nature, expanding our awareness and releasing stress, toxins, pent up emotions and stored memories in the body. 

Davide Cruciani & Michelle Jimenez

Husband and wife team Davide Cruciani and Michelle Jimenez own and operate The Girl & The Sea Surf School in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. TwoCan Retreats’ go-to teachers when it comes to surf instruction, Davide and Michelle don’t take surfing lightly – it is their passion and lifestyle. Their surf lessons are designed to be fun and insightful for every woman, man, or child who wants to learn – regardless of age or surfing ability.

They break surfing down into easy-to-understand steps and drills that make for an exhilarating day on the water. The result: a life-changing, transformative surf experience in magical Santa Teresa, a place where time slows, shoulders drop, and spirits soar. The ocean is the biggest place on this planet and once you connect with Davide and Michelle in a Santa Teresa shorebreak, there is no turning back.

Read more information on Davide and Michelle’s background here.

Wondering if this retreat is a good fit for you? If your grief is too big…or too small? Not sure you can surf?

Beautiful Costa Rica

Costa Rica is world-renowned as a place that is not only rich in beauty, but is actually good for your well-being. In fact, it was awarded Best International Health Destination in 2021. Costa Rica has some of the world’s best beaches, tropical rainforests and national parks with a diversity of flora and fauna that would astound any nature lover. The country is famous for its eco-tourism, which leads the world in its efforts to protect the environment.

The shoreline of Nicoya Peninsula encompasses a number of beautiful beaches, serving up unspoiled beauty and a natural charm that gives a unique character to the region and makes it a hot spot for surfers, nature lovers, conservationists and eco-adventurers alike.

Where Pura Vida is a way of life.

Santa Teresa is a charming little bohemian surf town known for its laid-back lifestyle, white sand beaches, year-round surf and Pura Vida vibes, where the community comes together each day to pause, take in the sunset and be grateful for another day. The beaches are beautiful and uncrowded, the ocean warm and inviting. Close by are the natural tide pools in Malpais, a breathtaking secret beach and Montezuma Waterfall to name just a few of the many opportunities you’ll have to experience the awe and delight of this incredible jungle paradise.

Come restore your soul in this incredible corner of the world, flanked by a warm ocean and lush jungle teeming with wildlife. If you’re looking for a nature retreat Costa Rica is the place where you can relax, heal, play and celebrate this beautiful life we all share — there’s simply no better place to connect and be in nature together.

TwoCan Retreats Personalized Service

TwoCan Retreats is known for the “5-star” level of service they provide to their guests. Mike and Stacy are always on hand, ready to see to your needs, from the moment you land in Costa Rica to the day you say farewell (and beyond).

Providing a level of service not seen anywhere short of the most exclusive resorts, be cared for like family on your Costa Rica adventure with TwoCan Retreats. Don’t just take our word for it, read past TwoCan Retreat guest reviews!

All-Inclusive Package Price:

From $2222 to $3888*

*Price depends on accommodations. Scroll down for room descriptions and pricing.

We Make Getting Here Easy

TwoCan Retreats is proud to partner with Costa Rica Green Airways, a Costa Rican family-owned airline committed to Costa Rica’s environmental stewardship. Included in your package price is a round-trip domestic flight, which will take you from San Jose Airport to the smaller local airport in Cobano (ACO), located a short drive from Santa Teresa. This convenient 25-minute flight eliminates the 4-5 hour drive from the San Jose airport to Santa Teresa. 

The domestic terminal is located just outside SJO International Airport, about a five minute walk to the left. Just follow the yellow line all the way there, and check in for your flight at the Costa Rica Green Airways front desk.

Upon landing in Cobana, you will be welcomed by TwoCan staffers who will transport you on a scenic drive through the lush Costa Rican countryside to your hotel, Casa MarBella, which has been reserved exclusively for the Waves of Grief Retreat in order to create a safe container during your stay.

What’s Included

• Round-trip domestic air-charter on Costa Rica Green Airways, which will take you from San Jose Airport (SJO) to Cobano Airport, a small airport located a short drive from Santa Teresa

• Private Airport transfers and ground transportation for the duration of your stay

• 5 nights private accommodations at Casa MarBella, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

• Delicious and healthy meals prepared by local nonprofit Provide & Conquer, empowering a community of women who actively promote the values of sustainability.

• Daily Group Practice: yoga, meditation and journaling to move grief, cultivate gratitude and deepen your sense of calm, connected presence

• 2 Group Surf Lessons w/ The Girl & The Sea Surf School, including gear and photographer (optional; additional lessons available)

• Waves of Grief™ Circles and Community Ocean Ritual

• Guided Breathwork w/Sound Healing or Shamanic Bodywork w/Energy Healing

• Trip to Montezuma Waterfalls for hiking, swimming, and zip-lining if you wish, w/lunch and admission to El Mariposario, Montezuma Butterfly Gardens

• 4th Annual Plastic Free July Beach Cleanup in collaboration with Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper and Operation Rich Coast

• Special Closing Sunset Dinner with stunning ocean view at the mouthwatering Brukas Restaurant

• Daily housekeeping, in-room safes and security guard on the premises 24/7

What’s NOT included:

• International flights to/from Costa Rica

• Lunch on the Free Day

• Additional surf lessons, activities or excursions (i.e., massage, reiki, horseback riding, ziplining)

• Tips for hotel staff & tour operators

• Travel insurance

Accommodations

Casa MarBella, in the heart of it all!

Your luxury boutique hotel, reserved exclusively for your Costa Rica Family Jungle Adventure, Casa MarBella offers an intimate and unforgettable experience with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Perched on a hillside amidst the jungle and above the hustle and bustle of town, a short walk to restaurants and the beach.

The hotel is essentially one grand villa with fourteen private and shared rooms, most with ocean views, surrounding an infinity pool and Jacuzzi. There’s also a beautiful ocean view yoga deck.

Enjoy watching wildlife in their natural habitat without leaving the hotel. You’ll see howler monkeys, iguanas, and a variety of bird species inhabiting the surrounding jungle, which is centrally located and within walking distance to stores and some of the more notable restaurants in the area. Most importantly, you can walk to the beach in 5 minutes.

Casa MarBella makes a conscious effort to protect the environment by recycling, composting, collecting rain water, using biodegradable soaps and cleaners, installing energy saving light bulbs, and hiring local workers. The hotel utilizes a water softener and UV purifier, making the tap water safe to drink while reducing plastic consumption.

Room Descriptions

Private Room w/Private Bath

These are partial ocean view rooms with 1 queen bed, 1 twin bed, private bathroom, small fridge, A/C and WiFi. The room overlooks the infinity pool.

Single: $3222 / Additional person: $2222

Private Ocean View Room w/Private Bath & Kitchenette

These premium ocean view rooms are the only completely private rooms with soundproof windows and doors, a king-size bed, private bathroom, kitchenette, A/C and WiFi. Each room overlooks the infinity pool.

Single: $3444 / Additional person: $2222

The Suites — 2 Bedroom/1 Bath Apartments w/Full Kitchen

The Suites are small apartments, perfect for families or friends, offering more space and privacy than the Standard Rooms. Each apartment has two bedrooms, a full kitchen and a private balcony off of the larger bedroom with a beautiful ocean view. Each bedroom has a King bed with a shared connecting bathroom, A/C and WiFi. The infinity pool is one step out the door.

Private Jungle View Queen w/Shared Bath - Single: $2888

Private Ocean View King w/Private Balcony & Shared Bath - Single: $3222

The Condos — 3 Bedroom/2 Bath Condos w/Full Kitchen & Private Balcony

The Condos span two levels for a total of 1500 square feet each, offering the most space and privacy of all Casa MarBella’s rooms. Each condo comes with three bedrooms, cathedral ceilings, A/C, two bathrooms, a large fully-equipped kitchen, and a spacious private ocean view terrace just a few steps away from the infinity pool.

Rooms in the condos are either private or shared and can accommodate up to five people.

Condo 1

1. Large Private Ocean View King w/Shared Bathroom Single: $3222

2. Private Jungle View Queen w/Shared Bathroom Single: $2888

3. Large Shared Ocean View Room (2 Twins) w/Bathroom Double: $2888 per person

Condo 2

4. Large Private Ocean View King w/Shared Bathroom Single: $3222

5. Large Private Ocean View King w/Private Bathroom Single: $3888 / Additional person: $2222

6. Shared Jungle View (2 Twin Beds) w/Shared Bathroom Double: $2222 per person

Rooms 1 & 4 (lower level): One large bedroom with king bed, large windows and ocean view. Both rooms share a bathroom w/shower.

Rooms 2 & 6 (lower level): One smaller bedroom with queen bed (Condo 1) or two twin beds (Condo 2) and jungle view. Both rooms share a bathroom w/shower.

Rooms 3 & 5 (upper level): One large master bedroom with one King or two twin beds, private bathroom, large windows and ocean view (up a steep staircase).

Reservations:

• Deposit to hold your spot: $1000 due at booking.

• 50% of balance due 90 days prior to the start of the retreat..

• Final balance of trip package price due 60 days prior to the start of the retreat.

Cancellation Policy:

• Full refund, less $500 cancellation fee, for cancellations requested 90+ days prior to the start of the retreat.

• 50% refund for cancellations requested 60-89 days prior to the start of the retreat.*

• No refunds will be given less than 60 days prior to the start of the retreat.*

*Unless…

1. YOU are able to transfer your retreat package to another qualified person.

2. WE are able to sell your package to another qualified person.

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