Solo diving in Maine ?
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Not in Maine now, but hope to visit in the future. I just remembered what happened in California when I drove for hours to dive at Point Lobos state park and was turned around at the gate because of no dive buddy. I guess they have their reasons, but I don't get it.
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I would avoid state parks, national seashores, national parks (they don't allow solo either) and other controlled access areas if you want to dive anything besides single tank no deco diving.
Acadia National Park (our only NP) has no regulations pertaining to scuba diving except the universal "take nothing" rule. We have been there several times diving, including some solo with favorable ranger interactions.
As for the state as a whole, Scott's mention of state parks is the only thing I know of. Odds are as a visiting guest here you would not bother diving a state park.
Pete
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Lobos is a state park and they do try to "ensure" diver safety. And that is making sure that you have some level of buddy / logistical support. There are enough people over the many decades who have died at Monterey that I guess the State Park system decided to make sure you aren't alone. And certainly enough folks dying at Lobos that it becomes a issue. That said - when at Lobos, or perhaps Maine parks maybe you hook up with some divers who "just" happen to be at the locale at the same time. The Lobos rangers don't go around checking your certs. or stuff.
Like others have said - I really doubt anyone is going to be hassling you if you go alone unless you are diving in peak season when the area warrants more supervision. That said - solo diving does require more thought and preparation.
On a fun note - I did a solo dive years ago off a boat where I was the guy re-checking the "hook." The original hook person attached the grapnel to a weak part of the boat and during 8' feet seas the boat broke loose. At the time there were 5 divers in the water. 3 were in a team and were picked up as the current carried them away. 1 was solo diving the wreck. Me, - I found no grapnel & was stuck in the water for about 40 minutes at the surface, choppy seas hanging onto my life bag. Luckily I had a strobe, reflectors, extra gas and a red Viking suit. Kinda fun in a weird way and all I can tell you is that seeing the dive boat in the distance was a nice relief.
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Many of us are cheap bastards and can't afford the boat dives every weekend. Much of the scenic diving is against the shore in 35-45' range. There are a lot of guys that buddy up, but there are also a lot of us independent [don't like the developing tech term SOLO] divers that dive same day/same ocean conditions. We are in the vicinity of each other doing our own thing down there; whether it be photography, underwater beachcoming, searching for lures/weights, "communing with nature', whatever, whatever. We kind of watch out for each other and are always willing to get involved and help if something goes wrong. But when you are in these shallow depths, and you have done it enough and have the redundancy, then you have a fairly good chance of not getting in serious trouble. It is as dangerous as you make it. If you go to the popular local sites you will more than likely see several independent divers anywhere you go. It does not seem to be as frowned upon as much as it used to be. If you come up and go to a new site you've never been to, stay in the shallows, there is plenty to see and a lot of fun to be had in 15'.
Dr. Lecter
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They're funded with the diver's tax dollars and owned by the citizens of this country, not its administrators: I would dive them as I saw fit and deal with any issues afterwards, so long as my doing so wasn't placing the park/dive site at risk. At most, I suspect you'd be looking at a nominal civil fine and even then only if the ranger had one Hell of a bug up his/her ass. Ask permission, beg forgiveness, etc.
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