FOLLY BEACH, S.C. -- You don't come here for golf. The nearest links are across the causeways, on the mainland. If you're looking for tennis or spa resorts, you'd do better to head toward Isle of Palms, on the other side of Charleston, or to Kiawah, the next island south. Fancy food? Nothing here tops what you'll find in Charleston.

But Folly Beach is where Charlestonians come to kick back, along with other Carolinians seeking a beach experience less hectic than Myrtle and more down-home than, say Hilton Head Island. Locals sometimes say it's more like Key West, Fla. And they may be right.

Folly Island is roughly 10 miles south of downtown Charleston on S.C. 171. Folly is a six-mile by half-mile barrier island glued to bug-filled creeks and just dangling in the Atlantic.

Key West, similarly, is at the end of a series of swamp-crossing causeways.

And what vacationers find at the end of each road is a funky respite from the refined (Charleston) or glitzy (Miami).

The considerably smaller Folly Beach (with roughly 2,100 souls -- a tenth the size of Key West) is just as tourist-friendly, but the allure is beach instead of sightseeing attractions.

What can you do? Well, enjoy the beach experience and check out the seven blocks of Center Street that pass as downtown.

There's more to both than you'd expect.

From one island-end to the other, the sand is fine and dries to a pale tan. The variety is in the beachscape.

Mini-Myrtle. The vibe is more Grand Strand in the midsection: It's where Center Street hits the sea. Add the Holiday Inn and the popular Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier and crowds of sun-seekers materialize out of thick, humid air.

The Taylor rivals the surf for visual attention. Its wood planking is 23 feet above the beach. Extending 1,045 feet, it's the second-longest pier on the East Coast. It's 25 feet wide and often lined with anglers. The two-story shelter at its tip offers great views up and down the coast. On the other end is popular Locklear's Beach City Grill, a sibling to Locklear's seafood eatery in Mount Pleasant's Shem Creek area.

The Folly Island strand is wide and flat, which means tides wash a good hunk of real estate with every turn. Hard-pack sand? Oh yeah. You'll see a number of folks using oversize paddles to whack standard-issue tennis balls across "courts" outlined with sand shovels.

Nags Head style. Stroll the beach away from Center Street, and you'll notice crowds thin and beach houses uniformly line up behind the protected sand dunes. Sure, there are periodic public access points, but parking is more difficult and beach amenities scarce. The look is more Kitty Hawk or Kill Devil Hills.

If reading or snoozing on the sand is your thing, this is your paradise. Rent a house near an over-the-dunes walkway so you won't have to carry your gear very far.

Ocracoke feel. One slogan you see here and there bills Folly as "The Edge of America," and that feels true at the island's ends.

It's a half-hour walk from the pier to Folly Beach County Park at the southwest end -- a spit cornered by the sea and the Folly River and pointing toward Kiawah. The vista is of unbridled nature.

In other respects, the parks people seem to have thought of everything.

Set back from the beach is a raised shelter complex with bathrooms, outdoor-dining area, a staffed snack bar (dog, chips and 16-ounce drink: $3.50) and a shed where you can purchase such essentials as a plastic pail and shovel ($1.50), Frisbee ($1.50) and 15-, 30- or 45-SPF sunscreen ($5.95). You can rent a chair and umbrella for $8 a day (have a photo ID with you) and relax knowing there are five lifeguards on duty. Drive here on West Ashley Avenue and try one of Folly's rare public parking lots ($5).

The northern end of Folly is more wild.

When the seaside houses stop, you'll soon come to a pocket of activity -- the "Wash" or "Washout," a popular place for surfers. This is where the island narrows, and where a channel once divided Folly. The water remains strong at times. Besides surfers, you'll see a rusted-orange pipe snaking along the beach (it's part of ongoing sand replenishment) and, along the road, piles of busted concrete riprap.

Head north to the turnaround to reach a quarter-mile hike to the tip. Park your car -- a word on that, in a jiff -- and walk around the gate, up the asphalt road. The road ends and you're on a sand-covered path and, eventually, on a rise where you'll see the Morris Island lighthouse about 300 feet offshore. There once was a Morris Island beneath it, but erosion washed much of it away. Preservationists have worked hard to keep the 131-year-old beacon from being demolished. It is decommissioned, but still a great daytime sight.

This part of Folly is owned by the county park system, so feel free to stroll the beach, which has a desolate, wind-blown quality.

Meanwhile, back at your car. ... There is no parking lot for lighthouse-peepers. Off Ashley Avenue you need to feed an honor box ($1 an hour, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; free at other times).

Need more outdoor fun?

Stroll downtown, the seven blocks from the Taylor Pier up Center Street to the park at Folly River. High-tide for pedestrian traffic and serious people watching is Thursday through Sunday.

Merchants on Center wheel out racks of the typical beach tees and other paraphernalia; late morning until 10 p.m., the aroma of cooking seafood seasons the thick air. On the beach, seabirds swoop close to the pier, looking for their own raw-bar feast.

Bob Young and Nancy Linehan, a couple in their 50s from Pennsylvania, were enjoying the view from the upper deck at the end of the pier. "I like that it's not wall-to-wall hotels, like Myrtle Beach or Ocean City, Md.," she said. When it comes to sheer relaxation, according to Young, "It's on a par with Clearwater, Florida."

A floor below, stroller Deborah Wolff of North Charleston says, "If you're a female who has lived here over a year, you're a Folly Dolly." It's a handle the onetime resident wears with pride.

Phil and Denise Story of Orangeburg, S.C., come down most weekends and were catching a bite on the Terrapin Cafe's screened porch, out of the sun and in easy earshot of the light-rock duo playing there. "We love the beach, and it's just an hour away," says Denise. "Coming here is our hobby."

Her grandmother used to own a home on Sullivans Island, on the other side of Charleston Harbor, but Denise prefers Folly. "It's more casual and easygoing."

That house is now a beachfront tavern on Sullivans, Denise says -- "and she wouldn't be happy about that. She hated drinking."

Grandma would've steered clear of the strange little building inland from the Holiday Inn, called the Sand Dollar Social Club. Basically, it's a private dive-bar. Anyone can join for a dollar -- but you're not allowed in for 24 hours. This essentially screens out passers-through.

The dingy green cinderblock looks like a jail from an old John Wayne Western.

Strollers can find other "Margaritaville" photo ops.

At 23 1/2 Center, the front end of a fiberglass shark protrudes from above the law offices of Bolus & Bolus.

Folly River Park has two human-size statues of frogs -- one's sitting on a bench, the other strums a guitar.

And keep your eyes peeled when you walk past McKelvin's Surf Shop on Center. It's not surprising that Jimmy Buffett is seen here from time to time. The pop star is said to have a place on Folly under an assumed name.

A great retreat when life in his Key West, Fla., neighborhood gets a little too hectic.

FOLLY: THE BACKSTORY

"Folly Island" is thought to be a corruption of Foliage Island -- it was thick with trees at one time. It was also called Coffin Island, because sailboats making for Charleston Harbor marooned sick passengers and crew to avoid being quarantined.

George Gershwin wrote "Porgy & Bess" in the 1930s in a tiny house in a back yard on West Ashley.

Folly's contrary nature guarantees it won't go the way of Myrtle Beach. Aside from the town's only high-rise -- the beachfront Holiday Inn -- and one gas station, there are no chain businesses.

IF YOU GO:

LODGINGS: The Holiday Inn Charleston on the Beach is Folly's only hotel. All units have an oceanfront view. August rates (double occupancy): $229; $259 for Friday-Saturday. Lower rates after Labor Day. 843-588-6464; www.charlestononthebeach.com.

Two realty firms offering a lot of rental houses on Folly are Fred. P. Holland (843-588-2325) and Avocet (843-588-6699). Rates can run $1,500-$6,000 per week.

RESOURCES:

City of Folly Beach: www.cityoffollybeach.com.

Folly Beach Tourism Center and Visitor Information: www.follysurfcam.com/follybeach/tourism.html.