A Canadian tourist in Hawaii has survived a disastrous sequence of events after he took a wrong turn while heading out to watch the sunrise, drove off a cliff, fell out of the wreck and was washed out to sea.

The crash woke up local spearfisherman Mike Moody who was sleeping in a vehicle nearby with a dive partner at about 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Moody said the tourist was very lucky not only to have survived the 20-metre cliff fall in his vehicle, but also the 90 minutes he spent in the water afterward.

Hawaii Fire Department Chief Kazuo Todd said the man was driving a rented Jeep SUV when he drove off a dirt trail on Hawaii鈥檚 Big Island.

He said the 27-year-old Canadian was near the southern tip of the island trying to find somewhere to watch the sunrise when he went off the edge, not far from the popular South Point diving cliff, crashing onto rocks below.

Todd said the man crawled out of the wreck on the passenger side only to plunge into the ocean.

鈥淗e slipped over the car, I guess one door, the one he was sitting next to the driver鈥檚 side, was not openable. So, he got up to the passenger side and, just the way the car was set up, he fell into the water,鈥� said Todd.

He said a spearfisherman called the fire department and rescuers found the driver about 100 metres offshore.

Todd said his team brought the driver to safety by using a high-angle rope system to pull the man up the cliff.

The tourist had some minor scrapes and was hypothermic, but was released from hospital shortly after being treated.

Moody later shared photos showing the wrecked white SUV at the foot of the cliff, with waves splashing just below.

He said a helicopter and fire and rescue crews responded to the scene quickly.

As a fisherman who frequently visits the area, Moody said he was shocked that such a crash could happen.

鈥淵ou know we drive around there a lot. It鈥檚 pretty safe if you are paying attention, but I don鈥檛 know what happened to this guy he went off pretty quickly.鈥�

Moody said the area where the tourist fell is one of the 鈥渃raziest places in the world for spearfishing鈥� and the water is very deep with big currents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the only places on the Hawaii Island chain that immediately when you touch the water, there鈥檚 鈥� a big current,鈥� he said, explaining the dangers of the waters.

鈥淗e was very lucky to survive at all just being in the water down there at night, let alone with an injury,鈥� said Moody.

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