First time cruiser here. Anyone have any suggestions on shore excursions in Cozumel? Any experiences good or bad? Thanks.

Not El Cid- Rip off food was awful and drinks were extremely weak and would not give doubles.  Snorkeling was ok, but my boyfriend had one of his flippers fall off and they were going to charge us $60 for it...  We lucked up on a diver who retreived it for us.  I think there are a lot better resorts.

The best excursion in Cozumel for us was the Dolphin - push, pull & swim. A once in a lifetime event that will never be forgotten. Lew

 If you like to eat, drink and enjoy the beach, try Nachi Cocum.  It's an all-inclusive day resort that charges $49 per adult for all you can eat, all you can drink (and LOTS of it!), beach lounge chairs under palm trees, jetski rentals, parasailing and snorkel trips for extra $$, and the best beach masseuse I've ever met.  $40 per 1/2 hour, $70 per hour - she split an hour between me and the dh and we both ended up actually getting around 45 minutes rather than 30!  Emanuel our waiter was always there with whatever we needed and the food was scrumptious!!  DH had 3 helpings of their ribs with orange glaze!  Book there through island marketing at www.cozumelcruiseexcursions.com, select the Nachi Cocum Beach Break.  You send them your info, they e-mail you back with confirmation of room for you (they limit it to 100 people per day but there was only 30 the day we went) then you send them your credit card info - they charge $12 per adult deposit and you pay the rest in cash when you arrive.  Cab there and back was $16 each way and they're right there at the pier - easy to find one!  Enjoy!

Our favorite excursion in Cozumel so far has been the ATV and Beach Adventure. It was a great experience. We went on the Cozumel Jeep and Snorkel at Punta Sur this last August and it wasn't a pleasant experience at all. The guide was rude and pushy and the water was so rough no one (even those of us that are experienced at snorkeling) enjoyed it at all. We have also gone shopping in Cozumel a couple of times and that was nice too just depending on what your interests are.

  I have done both the excursions to the beach, and across at Playa de Carmen.  I really enjoyed Xcaret & Xel-Ha.  I recommend both.  With the Xel-Ha excursion, you can visit the Mayan ruins as well as enjoying the park at Xel-Ha.  My avatar is a pic I took at Xcaret.  It was beautiful as you can see, and there were plenty of things to do there as well. 

The beach excursion I took on the island of Cozumel was fanastic.  It had a protected beach, and chairs w/umbrellas.  They transported us there & back.  We had fantastic food, and lots of fun.

Good luck with your choice, but be sure to return in the future to do some other stuff!