A 10-year-old boy has been caught on camera surfing next to a 2.5-metre great white shark on the NSW central coast.

Chris Hasson was taking photos of his son Eden surfing “up Northern for the late surf” at Samauri Beach at Port Stephens on Tuesday.

Recounting the close encounter on his Facebook page, Mr Hasson said he was “on the rocks taking photos of Eden” when he saw a “dark shape” as a storm brewed in the background.

“I see a big dark shape and [am] about to call the small group in and Eden takes of on a left and smashes it to the beach.

“Just as he is taking off I see something out of the corner of my eye. I keep shooting and after he finishes and starts paddling out I zoom in on the second photo and see he’s just done a backhand snap on an 8-foot Great White Sharks [sic] head.”

Mr Hasson said he called everyone in who was in the water and showed them the photo on his camera, relieved his son “didn’t fall off”.

“This photo is going straight to the pool room. Not everyday you get a photo surfing over a big white. Check its mouth.

“It’s rolled over having a good look at his yummy yellow new wetsuit.”

Eden told News Corp he was surfing for about an hour and a half when he noticed a lot of fish in the water.

“When I paddled I saw [the shark] ahead just floating around, and when I came up to do the turn I thought it must have been just seaweed,” he said.

“I was 100 per cent sure it wasn’t a surfer because I knew who was out there.

“If I had known it was the shark in the wave I would have freaked out and fallen off.”

The photos have since attracted global attention, with journalists from the UK, New Zealand, Germany and America calling about the encounter.

Watch Eden and Chris on Sunrise: