A surfer has had a narrow escape from a shark at a beach in northern NSW where a teenager was bitten just months ago.

Footage caught on Coast Cam at Cabarita Beach at 7.26am today shows surfer Brad Ross in the water alongside a dark shape, before splashing.

The attack lasted only seconds and surfers around Ross were not immediately aware of what was unfolding.

Ross was uninjured but a massive bite was taken from his board.

Witness Kane Douglas described seeing an “explosion of water and foam”.

“One part of the board went that way, his board was still attached to him,” Douglas said.

“The first thing I checked for when he started saying ‘shark’ was blood in the water.”

Grace Shaw told 9News she caught a wave moments before the attack.

“We both saw the wave and I managed to catch it; it was incredible. Then, I turned around to paddle back out and noticed his board was shattered. His friend was asking, ‘Mate, are you okay?’ He replied, ‘I’m not sure what happened, it just exploded’,” Shaw recounted.

“I was just like, ‘I’m okay, he’s okay, if I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die’.”

Moments later a great white shark, approximately five metres long, was spotted on drone footage.

Within hours, a nearby drum-line snagged a shark fitting that description but it broke free before it was able to be tagged.

Shark expert Dr Daryl McPhee from Bond University said sharks were expected in the area at this time of year.

“We anticipate the presence of white sharks in the northern New South Wales region during this season as they trail behind the bait fish and whale migration,” he mentioned.

Surfing great Kelly Slater expressed his disbelief about the lucky escape.

“How does it bite that much and miss the guy? Insane!” he wrote in an Instagram comment.

Cabarita Beach is south of Kingscliff, just south of the NSW-Queensland border.

The beach was closed by the local Tweed Shire Council today.

Mayor Chris Cherry said surfers seen in the water later that day were taking an “unnecessary risk”.