County officials received no reports of flooding, fallen trees or downed power lines. The tourism industry, however, was smarting from a rash of cancellations that began earlier in the week with reports of Tropical Storm Bonnie and worsened as Charley approached.
"This would've been normally the last busy weekend of the summer season," said Gary Sims, general manager of the Holiday Inn Oceanfront. "Last week was just a horrible week."
The hotel generally runs at 92 percent capacity this time of year, but Sims thought last week would only be in the 60-percent range.
"It's sad to see the business go, but we were blessed by the fact that the storm missed us and we don't have to put the island back together," said Sims, who commended public officials for taking steps to protect lives.
Rental villas reported large numbers of guests leaving early Friday, but by the following afternoon, business appeared to be returning to normal. Traffic, unseasonably light Saturday morning, started to thicken later in the day.
The northward-moving storm passed about 50 miles off the Beaufort County shore at around 8 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston.
The South Carolina coast didn't experience winds approaching tropical storm force until near the Charleston area. Gusts of 31 mph were reported on Hilton Head Island.
Forecasters had predicted a much grimmer local scenario with 60 mph sustained winds, 3 to 6 inches of rain, and 3- to 5-foot tidal surges. But by about 8 a.m. Saturday, about the time Charley was expected to hit the area, officials with the Beaufort County Emergency Management Department gave the all-clear.
"The storm was difficult to deal with because of the changing conditions," Emergency Management Director William Winn said. "It was difficult to deal with because of the constantly changing forecasts and the constantly changing threats."
Though the hurricane spared the county, Winn said the voluntary evacuation of low-lying areas went well and he was satisfied with the county's overall response. He said he would assess the effort in greater detail this week.
On its way out of South Carolina by noon, Gov. Mark Sanford lifted his evacuation orders, mandatory and voluntary, for the state's coast. Sanford left it up to local leaders to determine when residents could get back in evacuated areas.
Hurricane Charley's legacy on Hilton Head likely will short-lived, felt mostly in terms of economic impact.
The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce spent Friday and Saturday morning fielding calls from people wanting to know whether to cancel reservations. While not telling people specifically what to do, the chamber gave them up-to-date information on local weather conditions. The chamber also posted regular updates on its Web site.
"We found that people were very surprised that the skies were blue and people were out golfing," Charlie Clark, chamber spokeswoman, said Saturday afternoon. "We always encourage people to check with a local source."
Clark said Friday that a check of various properties found occupancy rates for this coming week dropping from 69 percent to 44 percent. Hotels were expected to see more cancellations than villas and home rentals because people staying for a week could arrive a day or two later, she said.