If a student wants to avoid any and all partying, I agree, Duke would not be a good option, nor would Stanford, the UCs, or pretty much any of the other top universities. Put 18-22 year olds together, and there’s going to be partying. That said, Duke has gone to great strides over the last decade to curb partying and drinking, reorganize its residential house system, and promote a more openly intellectual environment. It should also be noted that the environment at Duke’s marine lab is VERY different from that of the main campus. I found my semester there quite relaxing and a nice change of pace, particularly given the relatively low enrollment during the year (only about 30 students when I was there, compared to ~80 in the summer).
Marine biology is a subfield of marine science, as are marine geology, marine chemistry, and physical oceanography. Most schools focus on only a couple of these fields, though.
In any case, I’ve always said a biology major with strong preparation across the sciences is perfectly adequate at the undergrad level as preparation for a PhD program, so I would not discount strong liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore. One can always participate in oceanographic research through summer research programs like the [ocean sciences REUs](https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5053).