Knowledge on absorption by colored dissolved organic matter, a(cdom), spatio-temporal variability in coastal areas is of fundamental importance in many field of researches related to biogeochemical cycles studies, coastal areas management, as well as land and water interactions in the coastal domain. A new method, based on the theoretical link between the vertical attenuation coefficient, K(d), and the absorption coefficient, has been developed to assess a(cdom). This method, confirmed from radiative transfer simulations and in situ measurements, and tested on an independent in situ data set (N = 126), allows a(cdom) to be assessed with a Mean Relative Absolute Difference, MRAD, of 33% over two order of magnitude (from 0.01 to 1.16 m(-1)). In the frame of ocean color observation, K(d) is not directly measured but estimated from the remote sensing reflectance, R(rs). Based on 109 satellite (SeaWiFS) and in situ coincident (i.e. match-up) data points a(cdom) is retrieved with a MRAD value of 37%. This simple model generally presents slightly better performances than recently developed empirical or semi-analytical algorithms.