Looking for Hobuck Beach advice

I'm off to Hobuck Beach at Neah Bay for a long weekend with some friends in a couple of weeks.  I've never been there before and was looking for advice on the kayak fishing opportunities.  How gnarly is the launch?  I'm fairly experienced in the sound and my boat is plenty good in rougher water (17' Chesapeake) but I'm not experienced at all with surf launches. 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

The launch depends on the swell and weather.  It's an exposed beach launch so it's good to have options.  You can launch on the "inside" at the foot of the jetty, at the Coast Guard station, or at Snow Creek, or anywhere up the road from there.

-Allen

I've camped there a few times in the past, on surfaris and also with my GF. Back then it was a nice little semi-primitive campground run by a Makah Indian family. Things change slowly out there at the end of the earth, so more than likely it is still the same. Hopefully, though, they've replaced or upgraded the old outhouses.
I've surfed the shorebreak there many times around the mouth of the Sooes River (years ago). As I recall, depending on the swell direction, the surf is usually smaller toward the N end of the beach, toward the Waatch River mouth. You might be able to do an end run around the breakers there. The surf is usually smaller in there at the Makah Bay beach than it is out on the open coast, anyway. We used to surf in there when the outer secret reef breaks were too big or blown out, to salvage the surfari...not really good enough in there to be a destination surf spot, although I remember some memorable exceptions.

You might have to get a Makah fishing permit to be legal fishing from the Res. I know you need one to fish the fresh water (Sooes River hatchery steelhead), but I'm not sure if one is required for going out in the salt.
A tour through the Makah Museum is a fascinating "must do" educational experience that I highly recommend. Allow at least two hours for that.

I've never heard of any tribal permit being needed for saltwater fishing, and I've been out there quite a few times.

The campground has been getting some upgrades- fire pits and tables a couple of years ago.

Hobuck Beach is a surfer hangout- because there's almost always surf. There's a few rocks just to the west of the mouth of the Soees R. that provide a little break. The tricky part is the rock between the road and the water. You might be able to launch upstream and paddle out. If the surf is too much, fishing along the Strait back near town or east past Snow creek is a good option.

There is some sort of use permit that you are supposed to have ... http://www.makah.com/permits.htm

-Allen

Ya, the rec. permit. Sometimes I've bought it, and sometimes I haven't,  depending on what I was doing out there.

UPDATE! My friend (old surf buddy) and his wife just got back from camping at Hobuck Beach, and here's what he had to say.
He could not believe all the surfers up there. Way more than 8 or 9 years ago, when I last camped there. He said he must have seen 100 surfers cruising the outer Straits, and 50 surfing near Hobuck. Campground was crowded, but get this...They loved the mellowness of the spot. Totally unlike the scene in the lineup at Weirdport. Seems the surfers who prefer the mellow scene like to go up there now, and avoid coming here. I don't blame them at all, but ugly localism isn't always the case here. Just much of the time in The Corner when its smokin', or sometimes The Cove and The Knuckle.
He said the waves were OK when he was up there in Makah Land. Decent for longboarding, but not your hollow shortboard performance grinders. He was teaching his nephew how to surf, and they enjoyed the mellow scene.

By the way, I just heard last night that a local here in Westport got into a fight with an out-of-town surfer the other day, and it ended badly. The local (hard-core aggro dude...not one of my closest bros by any means, but we get along) is a stout tough young macho dude, but got thumbed in the eye and suffered damage to his cornea. Don't know any of the other particulars, but that kind of "territorial imperative" thing that started it really sucks, and I have disassociated myself with any of it. (Except maybe for the "20-foot rule" on the river)