Water column correction has been a substantial challenge for remote sensing. In order to improve the accuracy of coastal ocean monitoring where optical properties are complex, optical property of shallow water at Sanya Bay and the suitable water column correction algorithms were studies in the present paper. The authors extracted the bottom reflectance without water column effects by using a water column correction algorithm which is based on the simulation of the underwater light field in idealized water. And we compared the results which were calculated by the model and Christian's model respectively. Based on a detailed analysis, we concluded that: Because the optical properties of Sanya Bay are complex and vary greatly with location, Christian's model lost its advantage in the area. Conversely, the bottom reflectance calculating by the algorithm based on the simulation of the underwater light field in idealized water agreed well with in situ measured bottom reflectance, although the reflectance was lower than in situ measured reflectance value between 400 and 500 nm. So, it is reasonable to extract bottom information by using the water column correction algorithm in local bay area where optical properties are complex.