Female turtles usually swim at a faster pace than that of their babies or the male turtle in order to protect their young from predators. They are powerful swimmers and run on land with startling speeds. Soft-shell turtles are more active and mobile and are able to strike with the speed of a snake and the agility of a mammal. There are seven different species of sea turtles, but the most known turtle is the green sea turtle. Generally, turtles move faster than tortoises, even on land.
Land tortoises travel slowly but can sometimes manage human walking speeds.
Even when they hurry, they don't go very fast. It would take a typical tortoise one hour to walk a city block. The turtles' use of it's flippers as paddlers for swimming is amazing. The most efficient undersea paddlers are the giant sea turtles. A cold environment could cause the animal's life processes to slow down to the point where it is incapable of motion.