Solidified floating organic drop microextraction (SFODME), combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was proposed for simultaneous separation/enrichment and determination of trace amounts of nickel and cobalt in surface waters and sea water. 1-(2-Pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) was used as chelating agent. The main parameters affecting the performance of SFODME, such as pH, concentration of PAN, extraction time, stirring rate, extraction temperature, sample volume and nature of the solvent were optimized. Under the optimum experimental conditions, a good relative standard deviation for six determination of 20 ng l(-1) of Co(II) and Ni(II) were 4.6 and 3.6%, respectively. An enrichment factor of 502 and 497 and detection limits of 0.4 and 0.3 ng l(-1) for cobalt and nickel were obtained, respectively. The procedure was applied to tap water, well water, river water and sea water, and accuracy was assessed through the analysis of certified reference water or recovery experiments. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.