Abstract: In 2023, 30 surface sediment samples were collected from the sea area of Lingao County, Hainan, and the heavy metal contents in the sediments were analyzed to study the pollution status, risk level and sources of pollution. The results showed that the distribution characteristics of heavy metal contents of Hg, Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb were similar, and the high value areas were in the northwestern part of Lingao sea area, the sea area near Hongpai Harbour, Huanglong Harbour and Wenlan River, and the high value area of As was in the middle part of Lingao sea area. The average concentrations of all seven heavy metals, namely Hg, As, Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, comply with the Class I quality standards for marine sediments. Specifically, the compliance rates with Class I standards across all stations for Hg, As, Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb are 100%, 87%, 90%, 97%, 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. The geological accumulation index results indicate that the pollution levels of the seven heavy metals are in the following order, As＞Pb＞Hg＞Cr＞Cd＞Cu＞Zn, and the potential ecological risk levels are ranked as Hg＞Cd＞As＞Pb＞Cu＞Cr＞Zn. Overall, the heavy metals in the study area show no pollution and low risk. The Hg, Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in the surface sediments of the Lingao sea mainly originate from industries and marine transportation. The As in the nearshore areas is sourced from coastal farming and agriculture, while the As in the offshore areas may be related to natural geological background factors and inputs from the open sea.