Kauai fire personnel rescued a 36-year-old Kilauea man early this morning after he and the car he was driving plunged into Kalihiwai Bay.

A call came in shortly after 1:30 a.m. of a car possibly going over a cliff, the Kauai Fire Department said in a news release.

Fire personnel found damage to a guardrail and a trail through the vegetation left by the car.

They deployed a surfboard with a flashlight, since the cliff height obscured view of the man and his vehicle.

They found the car upside down on the rocks at the water’s edge. The driver had gotten out of the car and was alive, with some injuries to his left leg and had difficulty breathing.

Rescue personnel helped fire personnel and paddled the victim to shoreon a rescue surfboard.

He was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital in critical condition.