With the nearest beach 1,500 kilometres away, Alice Springs is not known for its surf breaks, but a bunch of daredevils have tried to change that.

Video of several men "surfing" on a the Ilparpa clay pan, south of Alice Springs, has become popular on social media in the central Australian town since it was uploaded to YouTube last week.

The footage was produced by Live For This, a group of video-makers who describe themselves as "BMX riders, musicians and media enthusiasts".

The men are shown being towed by a vehicle driving along the side of the clay pan while riding - and falling off - a surfboard.

One of the people behind the video, Philip Drummond, said the surfers started off slowly, at about 15 kilometres per hour.

But once they got their confidence up Mr Drummond said they would go between 30 and 40 kph.

"When you get a bit more speed the board lifts off the ground a bit more and you can glide along a little bit easier," he said.

A daredevil 'surfs' on a clay pan near Alice Springs. ( YouTube )

But the higher speeds meant more skin off if the surfers crashed, which happened frequently.

"It took a bit of trial and error ... there were a few stacks but no-one was really, or severely, hurt," Mr Drummond said.

The video was shot in the middle of last year after Alice Springs received heavy rain.

The idea came about when one of Mr Drummond's friends returned to Alice Springs with a surfboard.

"Learning to surf in the ocean is probably a bit safer than learning to surf in the clay pans," he said.

"The guys already knew how to stand up on a board.

"It's more along the lines of waterskiing or wakeboarding, being towed along."

But the legality of clay pan surfing, or "dirty surfing" as the men have dubbed it, is uncertain.

"I believe it's a bit of a grey area," Mr Drummond said.

"You get four-wheel drives tearing up there all the time, and the impact we're having on the environment I don't think would be any more harmful.

"As far as I'm aware I don't believe it's against the law."

But it is unlikely the spot will become a regular fixture on any surfing calendar.

"We might leave it for now," Mr Drummond said, who said he and his friends had other ideas for videos in central Australia.