Is Iquitos Safe for Tourists in 2026?

Street operators offer "traditional ayahuasca ceremonies" for 80-150 USD with no medical screening and no real shaman. Assaults, robberies during altered states, and severe medical incidents have been documented.

How to avoid: If you choose to participate, book through established retreat centers (Temple of the Way of Light, Nihue Rao) with week-long programs, medical screening, and female facilitators present. Never attend a street-tout ceremony.

Where: Street touts around Plaza de Armas, some lodge offices on Putumayo

Near Plaza de Armas in Iquitos, individuals in plain clothes or partial police uniform approach tourists claiming to be narcotics investigators, stating they must inspect wallets and passports for counterfeit currency or drug residue. Peru has no legal basis for a plainclothes officer to conduct a street wallet inspection, and the intent is to extract cash or demand a bribe.

How to avoid: Real Peruvian National Police wear full uniform with a visible PNP badge. If stopped, ask to walk to the nearest comisaria on Calle Morona. Genuine officers accept immediately; scammers refuse. Never hand your wallet to anyone who stops you on the street.

Where: Around Plaza de Armas in central Iquitos and along the Malecon Tarapaca riverfront promenade, particularly near the popular tourist bars and restaurants

Travelers who pay deposits for jungle lodges to operators found through guesthouses near Puerto Fluvial or along the waterfront tour strip arrive at the river port to find the boat does not depart, the lodge is overbooked, or the operator has disappeared. Budget operators sometimes sell the same lodge nights multiple times, especially during peak season (June-August).

How to avoid: Book jungle lodges only through operators with a registered office address visible in the Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo Peru (MINCETUR) registry. Pay a maximum 30% deposit by card rather than cash. Get a written receipt with the operator name, lodge name, dates, and cancellation policy before handing over any money.

Where: Tour operator stalls and guesthouses along the waterfront tour strip on Malecon Tarapaca and around Puerto Fluvial (river port) on Javier Prado street in Iquitos

Fraudulent websites and Instagram pages mimicking legitimate Iquitos Amazon river cruise operators accept full or 50% deposit payments via bank transfer for multi-day river expeditions that do not exist. The operator is unreachable after payment, and no vessel or itinerary is ever provided. Some sites copy photos from real operators wholesale.

How to avoid: Book Amazon cruises and multi-day expeditions only through operators with a listed MINCETUR registration number, a verifiable physical address in Iquitos, and Tripadvisor reviews spanning multiple years. Never pay a deposit via wire transfer to a personal account. Call the operator directly on a number found independently of the booking website.

Where: Fraudulent sites targeting travelers planning Amazon river expeditions from Iquitos, advertised via Google search ads, Instagram, and Facebook travel groups for Peru and the Amazon basin