The Tobermory Lifeboat was at the scene after the alarm was raised by the Ullin of Staffa boat, which had taken tourists, including the man, on a trip to the uninhabited island yesterday.
Clyde Coastguard said it had also called out a Royal Navy rescue helicopter from Prestwick to Staffa.
A lifeboat spokesman said: “We took a call from the Ullin of Staffa, reporting that one of the party at Fingal’s Cave had fallen.
“He was a German gentleman, between the ages of 30 and 40, and we think he was at the top of the cave taking photos and fell about 50ft and suffered multiple fractures.”
There was a doctor with the party and the man was winched into the helicopter and taken to hospital in Oban.
But the spokesman said the man had already died at the scene, as a result of his injuries.
The sea cave is part of a national nature reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is a popular tourist attraction. It is formed from basalt columns.
Source: The Scotsman