A NIGHT of drunken skylarking has left a Ukrainian tourist with a hangover he will always remember - and taxpayers with a huge bill.

After a night on the drink, the 19-year-old man scaled down a cliff at Sydney's northern beaches suburb of Manly but got stuck half way and passed out, The Daily Telegraph reports.

After being alerted by a fisherman, rescue workers found him asleep on his back on a ledge 30m above sea level at North Head early yesterday morning.

The rescue operation will cost taxpayers at least $10,000.

But the man will only be charged the cost of the road trip to hospital - likely to be as little as $700.

Garth Thomson, who repeatedly shook the man's leg to wake him up so he could be winched to safety, said he had not seen anything like it in his 15-year ambulance career.