Abstract: With the in-depth development of marine resources and continuous advancement of ocean exploration technology, underwater optical wireless communication(UWOC) technology has gradually become a research hotspot in the field of underwater communication due to its advantages such as high bandwidth, low latency, and low power consumption. UWOC technology not only demonstrates significant potential in areas such as underwear detection environmental monitoring, and resource exploration but also plays an important role in military reconnaissance and collaborative operations of underwater robots. This paper first analyzes the key factors affecting underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) performance, including underwater attenuation, turbulence effects, platform dynamic instability, and background optical noise. It then reviews the technological advancements in transmission systems, high-sensitivity detectors, and engineering prototypes for underwater wireless optical communication. The paper further outlines the development trends of UWOC, focusing on extended communication ranges, higher data rates, integrated underwater detection, communication, and navigation systems, as well as multimodal communication. Finally, it concludes with a summary and outlook for the future of UWOC.