Similarly, I was surprised that Grover Beach in San Luis Obispo Country was chosen as the west coast's terminal station. Seems a bit random, no?
Link: http://submarinenetworks.com/stations/north-america/usa-west...
"Cables almost never land in industrial zones, first because such areas are heavily traveled and frequently dredged, second because of pure geography. Industry likes rivers, which bring currents, which are bad for cables. Cities like flat land. But flat land above the tide line implies a correspondingly gentle slope below the water, meaning that the cable will pass for a greater distance through the treacherous shallows. Three to thirty meters is the range of depth where most of the ocean dynamics are and where cable must be armored. But in wild places like Porthcurno or Lan Tao Island, rivers are few and small, and the land bursts almost vertically from the sea. The same geography, of course, favors pirates and smugglers."
"Wired 4.12: Mother Earth, Motherboard by Neal Stephenson":http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html (this article is old, but great if you're interested in sub cables)