Best Beach in Asia?

Andaman Day 2: Sat. Aug. 13.

I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning (I did go to bed shamelessly early) and had Nutella pancakes on the beach. Did I mention we have our own private beach? Not sure if this is due to it being the off-season, general lack of visitors, or it actually being private, but we are reaping the benefits.
Our beach

I went to take an open-air shower, and when I got out, my legs suffered a sudden onslaught of painful burning--it felt like someone was sticking a thousand knives into my skin at once. No visible reaction, just clearly something in the water trying to convince me to fully embrace my backpacker status and not shower for the next four days...that's what the ocean's for, right?

After I took some allergy meds and my legs calmed down a bit, James and I headed to Beach Number 7, aka Radhanagar Beach, to check out the alleged Best Beach in Asia, according to Time Magazine. We rented a motor scooter and made the drive across the island, through the jungle. One of the most beautiful drives I've ever taken, actually.
On the drive to Beach No. 7

The beach was gorgeous and not crowded at all, although I think Best Beach in Asia might be a bit of a stretch. Maybe before the tsunami. There was a sign at the entrance warning of the dangerous creatures lurking in the area, which was a bit alarming...I mean, stone fish that you can't see? CROCODILES? I definitely refrained from entering the water. My bronzed complexion is much better suited to soaking up some rays on the beach, obviously...

We headed back to grab some dinner at the resort, when a fellow backpacker let us know about this restaurant down the street that was less than half the price of the resort. We decided to be adventurous, albeit cautious, because we didn't want to get sick. Rony's restaurant turned out to be the best discovery on the island. Huge plates of home-cooked food for dirt cheap. The place is run by a family in what looks like their front porch, and they will cook you seafood they caught that day if you ask them. We saved so much money by making the short trip over from where we were staying, and it was so good!