I can’t speak specifically to marine bio, but my daughter’s situation is similar. She plans to be a biology major. We also live close to UNH so that’s not very exciting for her. She did not apply to UVM because we knew it would be too expensive. She applied to U Mass and U Maine. We eliminated U Mass because it was just too expensive even after merit aid (and too large imo as well).
U Maine had everything she was looking for–reasonable price, friendly campus, honors college, good size, great bio program. It is really the only flagship New England university she is excited about. We are currently trying to decide between this option and a private college option.
Good luck!