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 two metres long.

He said he thought he was going to die in the first two 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.