In the present study, we report rapid biological synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) using a novel marine brown alga Ecklonia cava (Family: Lessoniaceae) by the reduction of chloroauric acid. The formation of Au NPs reaction was complete within 1 min at 80 °C and physiochemically characterized with different analytical techniques. FTIR spectroscopy revealed that Au NPs were functionalized with biomolecules that have primary amine group, hydroxyl group and other stabilizing functional groups. X-ray diffraction pattern showed high purity and face-centered cubic structure of Au NPs. Microscopy results showed that these Au NPs are formed with shapes like spherical and triangular with an average size of 30 ± 0.25 nm. Synthesized Au NPs showed good antimicrobial and biocompatibility with human keratinocyte cell line. Thus, physiochemical characteristic results suggest that Au NPs will have promising biomedical applications in different area such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, biosensor, etc.