Indie Beach – Hat Sai Noi

Scorecard:

Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10
A small, bohemian, family-run beachfront hideaway with Nordic-Thai style, excellent café food and a calm, creative vibe. One of the best “slow living” spots on Koh Chang if you don’t need a pool or big-resort facilities.

Location: 8.8 / 10 – On Hat Sai Noi (south of Bang Bao), a quiet cove a short walk from Bang Bao village and a few minutes from Klong Kloi Beach.
Rooms: 9.0 / 10 – Stylish, concrete AC bungalows plus a large wooden family house; minimalist, comfy and thoughtfully designed.
Facilities: 8.5 / 10 – Beach café/restaurant, yoga shala, kayaks/SUP, small kids’ playground; no pool.
Beach: 8.7 / 10 – Small, quiet private-ish beach; great for sunbathing, hammocks and sunsets, swimming tide-dependent.
Breakfast / Food: 9.4 / 10 – Excellent café with smoothie bowls, healthy Western/Thai fusion and very good coffee; a major highlight.
Service: 9.2 / 10 – Warm, personal, family-run service; very high staff ratings on booking sites.
Value for Money: 8.8 / 10 – Boutique feel and beachfront setting at a price that’s still below “serious luxury” territory.

What We Liked

Beautiful small-scale design: Thai charm plus Scandinavian minimalist style
Genuinely good food – smoothie bowls, healthy dishes, proper coffee
Calm, bohemian atmosphere with yoga, hammocks and a “micro-retreat” feel
Family-run, personal service – you feel like a guest, not a room number
Private-feeling cove away from the main tourist strips

What Could Be Better

No swimming pool – it’s all about sea, not chlorine
Small beach and swimming depth depend on tide and season
Location is a bit out of the way if you want nightlife or lots of shops
Rustic surroundings mean there will be the odd insect or gecko

Best For

Couples and solo travellers who like yoga, healthy food and slow living
Digital nomads and creatives who want a peaceful, inspiring base
Guests who prefer hammocks, candles and sea breeze over big hotel complexes

Summary:
Indie Beach is one of Koh Chang’s most characterful small resorts: a bohemian beachfront hideaway with stylish bungalows, an excellent café and a calm, creative energy. If your idea of paradise is yoga at 8, smoothie bowl at 9 and hammock time until sunset, you’ll love it here.

Check prices & available rooms

Indie Beach – Full Review

Overview

Indie Beach began life as a house built by a Norwegian traveller and a local partner, then slowly evolved into one of Koh Chang’s most-loved boutique beach hideaways.
It sits on Hat Sai Noi, a tiny cove just around the headland from Klong Kloi and a 10-minute walk from Bang Bao fisherman’s village.

The resort is small, personal and designed around a Nordic-Thai boho aesthetic: clean lines and pale concrete mixed with wood, plants, woven lamps and soft textiles. Add in a genuinely good café, yoga classes, sea views and a private-feeling beach and you’ve got a place that feels less like a hotel and more like a retreat.

Location – Tucked-Away Cove Near Bang Bao

Indie Beach is located on Hat Sai Noi, a small bay on the south-west of Koh Chang:

About 10 minutes’ walk from Bang Bao village and pier – good for boat trips, diving and supplies
A 3-minute walk over the headland to Klong Kloi Beach, with more restaurants and bars
No main road directly behind the resort – it’s nicely tucked away from traffic and general island bustle

The location is a little removed from the classic west-coast beach strip (Kai Bae, Lonely Beach etc.), so if you plan to bar-hop every night you’ll either need a scooter or to stay somewhere else. If you’re happy with calm evenings, stars and the sound of waves, it’s exactly the right place.

Atmosphere

“Bohemian tropical beach hideaway” is how Indie Beach describes itself, and that’s about right.
The mood is gentle and creative: yoga mats in the beachfront shala, barefoot guests padding between bungalows and café, soft music, fairy lights at night. It attracts a mix of couples, solo travellers, yogis, digital nomads and families who prefer a slower, healthier take on island life.

It’s friendly and social enough that guests can chat over breakfast, but not a party place. If your must-have amenities include a DJ and buckets, look elsewhere.

Rooms – Minimalist Bungalows and a Family Beach House

Accommodation here is compact but thoughtfully designed. The resort consists of:

A small beachfront house (the original “home”), ideal for families or small groups
Nine concrete air-conditioned bungalows laid out along the shoreline and just inland

All units share the same core features:

Air-conditioning (bungalows) or natural ventilation/sea breeze in the wooden house
Comfortable beds with good-quality linens
Fridge, Wi-Fi, private bathroom with hot shower
Simple, uncluttered décor – pale walls, wood, a few tasteful pieces

What’s Good

Rooms feel “designed” rather than thrown together: a genuine boutique feel for the price
Very clean and well kept; lots of reviews mention cleanliness and comfort
Plenty of natural light in most bungalows, with some having partial sea views

What to Keep in Mind

These are not huge villas – they’re cozy bungalows; great for couples and solo guests
Being directly by the sea/jungle, you will encounter the odd gecko, ant or mosquito
The aesthetic is minimalist rather than plush – think “stylish cabin” not “five-star suite”

The wooden family house is a bit different: it’s larger, right by the sea and cooled by the breeze rather than AC.
That makes it ideal for families or groups who want a beach house feel instead of separate rooms.

Facilities

For a small resort, Indie Beach packs in a lot of “soft” facilities that matter to its target crowd:

Beachfront Café & Restaurant: Famous for smoothie bowls, salads, fusion dishes and good coffee – plus Thai favourites done properly.
Yoga Shala: Beachfront yoga classes for in-house guests feature heavily in their marketing and social media.
Private Beach Area: Sun loungers and seating right on the sand; relaxed, uncrowded feel.
Kayaks / SUP / Boat Trips: Kayaks and SUPs to rent; boat trips and small “bohemian wedding” events arranged on request.
Wi-Fi & Workability: Wi-Fi is generally well rated, making it usable for remote workers – though as always, don’t expect fibre speeds in a beach bungalow.

What you won’t find here: a pool, a gym, a kids’ club or a long list of resort activities. The “activity” is mostly: eat, stretch, swim, read, repeat.

The Beach

Hat Sai Noi is a small crescent of sand tucked between rocks and jungle – much more intimate than the big west-coast beaches.
When the tide is in, it’s easy to swim and paddle; at lower tides it’s more of a paddling/hammock/walk-along-the-shore proposition than hardcore swimming beach.

Quiet and low-key – essentially shared by a few small resorts
Good for sunbathing, reading, and letting kids potter about in the shallows
Short stroll over the headland to Klong Kloi if you want a wider, more conventional beach with more bars

For a longer beach, Klong Prao or Klong Kloi will be better. If you prefer the idea of a tiny, sheltered cove that feels semi-private, Indie Beach’s location hits the spot.

How It Compares to Nearby Options

YuYu Golden Beach (Klong Kloi): Simpler, more budget beach bungalows right on Klong Kloi’s main stretch. Better if you want a busier social beach scene at lower prices.
Tropical Beach Resort / Chivapuri: Both on Klong Kloi proper with more conventional “resort” vibes; Chivapuri especially is a step up in terms of villas and pool.
Lonely Beach bungalows: More nightlife, more noise, and generally less design-conscious rooms. Indie Beach is much calmer and more curated.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Strong sense of style and identity – it feels like a small brand, not a generic resort
Excellent café food and drinks; you’ll happily eat on-site multiple times
Yoga, wellness and chilled community vibe
Quiet, tucked-away location but still close to Bang Bao and Klong Kloi
Very good guest ratings for cleanliness, comfort and staff

Cons

No pool or “big resort” facilities
Small beach and tide-dependent swimming
Location is quite far from the more developed parts of the west coast
Not suited to people who want late-night bars and a busy street right outside

Who Should Stay Here?

Perfect for:

Couples on a laid-back break or mini-retreat
Solo travellers and digital nomads who appreciate calm and good food
Yogis, wellness fans and anyone looking to de-stress for a few days

Not ideal for:

Nightlife hunters who want to bar-hop until 2am
Families who need pools, kids’ clubs and multiple on-site activities
Travellers who equate “holiday” with “huge buffet and loud entertainment”

Value for Money

Indie Beach sits in the sweet spot between budget bungalows and expensive designer resorts. You pay more than Klong Kloi’s simplest huts, but you get a lot back: design, comfort, a great café and a genuinely relaxing setting. For many visitors, that trade-off is more than worth it.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a small, characterful place on Koh Chang where you can wake up to the sound of the sea, do yoga, eat good food and forget what day it is, Indie Beach is hard to beat. It isn’t a conventional resort and doesn’t try to be, which is exactly why so many guests fall in love with it.