A man is in a critical condition after the vehicle he was in went over a cliff and smashed onto rocks at Coolangatta's Point Danger on the southern end of the Gold Coast.

A photo from Queensland Ambulance Service shows a dark dual-cab ute with significant damage at the bottom of a rocky cliff next to the ocean.

Paramedics said it happened just before 5:00am and the man aged in his 40s had to be freed from the wreck by fire crews.

He was taken to Gold Coast University hospital in a serious condition.

Authorities spent the morning trying to remove the vehicle from the rocks.

Adrian Bort was among the dozens of visitors to the lookout about an hour after the crash.

Authorities are investigating what caused the crash. ( ABC News: Dominic Cansdale )

"It was pretty chaotic, there were fire trucks down there and emergency crews," he said.

"Surprised [the car is] in as good condition as it is."