A 16-year-old boy has escaped the jaws of a shark off the coast of South Australia after a terrifying attack while surfing alone.

The teenager was surfing in murky water about 100 metres from shore when a suspected bronze whaler shark clamped down on his ankle, knocking him off his board.

Surfer Attacked TWICE by Shark, Drives Himself to Hospital - Surfer

Despite the frightening ordeal, the young surfer managed to paddle back to shore to seek help.

“If you’re coming out of something like that, you’ve always got to be pretty grateful to be at least not harmed too bad,” a witness identified only as Angus said. “But yeah, he got out pretty good, which you’ve got to be happy about.”

The teenager’s injuries are not considered serious.

Experts say shark attacks in the area are rare, but believe the murky water conditions may have played a role in the incident.

They suspect the teenager may have been mistaken for prey given the poor visibility at the time of the attack.