Physically, they have an average stature and sturdy build, with a height around 6 feet and a weight between 100 and 200 kg. They have a body adapted to aquatic life, thanks to their elongated shape covered by a robust shell and the presence of fin-like webbed feet and hands. The shell color is brown-olive, with yellow or marbled streaks and spots. Like few other Anthros, they’ve kept reproduction by oviparity, and females lay a pair of eggs in a sandy basin after fertilization occurs through sexual acts.

Turtle people are the most numerous in all Goenar and live in the Akgayalico archipelago, whose main island is surmounted by the active Akchiyio volcano but, as stated by some instead, there's a possibility that early Turtles settlers arrived from Mogress, where they coexisted with their cousins of Tortoise people. These theories are supported by agricultural evidence of the sweet potato, which was a favored crop in their society for generations but originated in Mogress. According to records, the islands originally had a very clear class system, with an ariki (king) wielding absolute power since their Ancestral Princes. Then, for unknown reasons, a coup by military leaders called matatoa brought a new policy based around a chiefs' council, a system that remains in place today.

The most visible element in their culture is the production of massive moai: almost a thousand figures carved from rock that are part of their Ancestral Princes' worship. The moai, which rest on large carved-stone platforms called ahu, are believed to be the living faces of Ancestral Princes. Given a strictly unified appearance, moai were erected along most of the coastline, indicating a homogeneous culture and centralized governance. In their culture, a special competition is present in which every year, a representative of each clan, chosen by leaders, swims across shark-infested waters to a nearby islet to search for the season's first egg laid by an animal-turtle. The first swimmer to return with an unbroken egg and successfully climb back up the cliff secures control over the distribution of the island's resources for their clan for the year. Turtle people, with their long-life expectancy and balanced natures, developed a bond with Zanthist asceticism.