When I went for my friends marraige I had visited marina beach in chennai city, in my opinion it is a best place to enjoy with the family, the crowd is also high.
I have enjoyed a lot by visiting this beach, the chennai municipal corporation is maintaining this beach very cleanly I had observed this, light house is also there we can see it, it is the safest beach to swim also, totally a beautifull environment you can see by visiting this beach in chennai, transportation facility is also good to reach the beach, there are lot of city buses to reach there, friends I suggest you to go with your family and have a sweet memory in your life.
Not only this you can also see this places near by the beach like viveka nada house, chepauk cricket stadium, marina swimming pool, aquarium, university of madras, precidency college etc., in simple it is good beach to visit.