Being attacked by a shark is a danger that lurks in the back of many surfers' minds.

But it was a risk Augustin Sanchez was willing to take for a "decent break".

"If you wanna (sic) skip winter, skip the cold, you have to go to Exmouth with good water runs and surf," he said.

Agonising paddle

The 26-year-old Argentinian was bitten by a shark at the popular Bombie surfing spot near the tourist town of Exmouth in WA's north-west on Saturday.

Mr Sanchez said he had only been in the water for about 20 minutes when he felt a sharp bite on his foot.

"I'm sure it was a tiger [shark] because I saw stripes," he said.

Mr Sanchez believed he had lost his toes and said it was an agonising 700-metre paddle back to shore.

"I couldn't have the right position to paddle, because I didn't want to put my leg that was fully covered in blood in the water so I don't attract them more," he said.

"I just tried to paddle back really slowly, not showing fear."

Mr Sanchez said the shark was up to 2 metres long.

He said he thought he was going to die in the first 2 minutes after the attack.

But he said the panic relented once he met his friend back on the shore.

Safe on land

"We thought it was all a joke," he laughed.