Tourist miraculously survives after driving rental car off cliff

A Canadian tourist drove off a 60-foot cliff in Hawaii and has miraculously lived to tell the tale.

A 27-year-old tourist was reportedly driving along the backroads of South Point cliff in Hawaii at around 3:30am on Sunday morning (25 February) in a bid to catch the sunrise, when he ended up driving his rented Jeep off the edge.

The vehicle overturned and landed upside down on the rocks below, yet somehow the driver survived.

Local outlet Island News reported the vehicle was driving along restricted backroads shortly before it veered off the edge of the cliff.

After falling a whopping 60-foot, the rental Jeep then got stuck upside down on the rocks below but in an extraordinary turn of events, the tourist survived the fall and is reported as having managed to pull himself out of the vehicle.

Unfortunately, with the car positioned right above the water, the driver fell right into the sea and was swept away.

Thankfully, the driver's fall off the cliff in the rental - as well as his plopping into the sea - were witnessed by several local spear-fishermen who'd been up at the crack of dawn to get to work after camping on the beach overnight.

One of the fishermen, Mike Moody, told Island News another fisherman said to him 'that the car had gone off the cliff just to the right of him'.

He recalled: "The driver’s side was jammed up with a rock so he couldn’t get out. Obviously, it was upside down on the roof so he was upside down and hanging right over the water on the passenger side.

"He probably had no idea there’s water underneath him. He just opened the door and the kid said he had just fallen straight out into the water."

The fishermen then called emergency services who managed to get the driver out of the water and to safety.

Moody says the driver was in the water for around 'one hour' before he was pulled to shore.

The Hawaii Island Fire Department sent UNILAD its press release reading: "HHFD, FPD and Coast Guard responded for a swimmer in distress in the waters off the Ka'u coastline at South Point.

"[...] Upon arrival the person was found aprox 100 years off shore in the water. It was determined that the person accidentally drove his rented Jeep off the cliffs. He was alone in the Jeep.

"The swimmer was coached to a safe spot at the bottom of the cliffs where he could exit the water. The swimmer remained safely on the shore line out of the water and suf but was at a 50'-60 cliff. The person was retrieved by technical rope by [...] rescue personnel and brought back to safety."

The driver is reported as being taken to the local hospital with mild hypothermia, some scratches and minor facial injuries.

The fisherman believes the driver 'would have died 100 percent' had the ordeal not been seen by the fishermen.