A DARWIN kite surfer thought he was “going to die” as he fought his way out of the jaws of a saltwater crocodile that kept coming back to try and eat him.

Chris Keeping, 29, said he was waiting in the water for his kite to untangle, about 100m off the beach at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, when he was attacked by a 2.5m saltie around 11.30am on Saturday.

media_camera Mr Keeping said he was “lucky” to have sustained only puncture marks to the top of his shoulder, armpit and rib cage in the savage attack. Picture: Supplied

“My kite hit the water and got tangled up so I had to sit there and wait for it to untangle and for the wind to pick the kite up,” Mr Keeping exclusively told the NT News.

“I was in the water for about 15 minutes, I didn’t see (the croc) hit me, it came from behind on my right side and grabbed me.

“He had part of my shoulder crushed across my chest in his mouth … he shook me but I was still attached to the kite so he couldn’t pull me under … I thought I was going to die.”

media_camera “I could tell by the blood that he had got me good but I didn’t want to take off my stinger suit to look.” Picture: Supplied

Mr Keeping said his body went limp as fear and shock overwhelmed him.

“I didn’t fight back then he stopped shaking me and went real quiet and wasn’t moving at all but he still had a hold of me in his mouth,” Mr Keeping said.

“He stopped moving to the point I put my hand on his snout and he didn’t react.

“I had a good look at him and saw how big he was, about 2.5m long, and thought ‘I can’t open its mouth’.”

Mr Keeping said he was in the crocodile’s mouth for about two minutes before the crocodile stared him in the eyes and he decided to fight back.

“He blinked at me and that’s when I thought I’d put my finger in his eye because I couldn’t do nothing else,” he said.

“So I poked him in the eye and he dropped me and let go.

“I was lucky he stopped shaking me because there’s no way I could have found his eye if he was still doing that.”

media_camera Kite surfing is an increasingly popular leisure activity in Darwin. Picture: Mark Brake

Mr Keeping “managed to get (his) board off (his) feet” and made a dash for the shore.

“He spun around and did a big 180 and came back at me to have another go,” he said.

“I hit him in face with (the board) and started back pedalling.

“He’d get real close and the he’d turn off and come back around again … He did that about five times … I kept hitting him in the face.

“I didn’t think I would make the beach, I thought he’d get me again.”

Mr Keeping said he was surprised when he reached waist-deep water and the crocodile dived under and vanished.

“I never saw him again after that,” he said.

media_camera The crocodile that attacked Mr Keeping was 2.5m long. Picture: Brad Fleet

Mr Keeping alerted other kite surfers in the area to get out of the water before calling his sister who took him to Royal Darwin Hospital.

“I could tell by the blood that he had got me good but I didn’t want to take off my stinger suit to look,” he said.

Mr Keeping said he was “lucky” to have sustained only puncture marks to the top of his shoulder, armpit and rib cage and was discharged from RDH on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m still very rattled by the whole thing,” he said.

NT Parks and Wildlife spokesman Edwin Edlund said rangers received a report of the incident on Saturday and were looking into the matter.

Croc sightings should be reported via the CROCWISE hotline on 0419822859.