Abstract. We consider a model of surface-mediated diffusion with alternating phases of pure bulk and surface diffusion. For this process, we compute the mean exit time from a disk through a hole on the circle. We develop a spectral approach to this escape problem in which the mean exit time is explicitly expressed through the eigenvalues of the related self-adjoint operator. This representation is particularly well suited to investigate the asymptotic behavior of the mean exit time in the limit of large desorption rate λ. For a point-like target, we show that the mean exit time diverges as √ λ. For extended targets, we establish the asymptotic approach to a finite limit. In both cases, the mean exit time is shown to asymptotically increase as λ tends to infinity. We also revise the optimality regime of surface-mediated diffusion. Although the presentation is limited to the unit disk, the spectral approach can be extended to other domains such as rectangles or spheres.