Garden Resort Kai Bae, as the name suggests, isn’t by the beach. It is located on the inland side of the main road in the centre of Kai Bae village, a two minute walk to the beach. A small, value for money resort with a good restaurant.
The area around the resort is pretty built up but noise doesn’t appear to be an issue for most guests. However, it would be better to stay as far from the restaurant and entrance as possible as a bar with live music is directly opposite.
There’s also an elephant camp close by and you’ll often see their young elephants taking a morning walk down to the beach to swim. A good variety of small shops and restaurants are within easy walking distance.
The comfortable, but not luxurious, well maintained bungalows are from around 2,500 Baht/night in High Season. You could pay the same for a bungalow on the beach. But the western management at Garden Resort always gets very positive reviews and having someone knowledgeable on hand who speaks your language often makes your stay easier and hassle free.
Definitely recommended as a good, safe choice for first timers to the island. (And looks a lot better in real life than the photos on booking sites suggest. They could do with updating.)