A Moorean couple bedecked in local flora smile at the camera.

Placing a flower behind your ear may seem like an innocent gesture, but in Moorea it can bring immediate attention.

I didn't know it at the time but the tiny gardenia I slipped behind my right ear had apparently announced that I was single and open to being propositioned! (A flower behind the left ear means you're married or taken).

"Are you looking for a man?" the lady behind the activities desk asks. "Tall, blond, blue eyes, maybe?"

"Actually I was just looking for a mask and snorkel," I tell her. "But since you ask, how about a tall Polynesian with tattoos? A real savage," I add, joking, "that's what I want!"

She wrinkles her brow.

Perhaps I can succeed where Paul Gauguin had failed. The renowned French painter travelled to Tahiti in 1891 in search of natives who remained untouched by the outside world. He didn't find any.

Maybe he should've come to Moorea, Tahiti's sister island. The previous night I watched a bare-chested Polynesian man crack open a coconut with his bare hand -- on the first attempt! It happened during a lively cultural performance at the Intercontinental Resort, while guests dined on a lavish seafood buffet that included lobster and poisson cru (raw fish marinated in lime juice).

Tourism is a major industry here and the population has doubled to 14,000 in the last 30 years, yet the island retains a laid-back charm. Baguettes are still delivered daily to tiny bread boxes outside local homes, and visitor accommodation is typically in garden cabanas or overwater bungalows, not in high-rise hotels.

Until recently the way to catch a local bus was to place a few leaves and a rock on the road then go back home and wait. When the driver approached and saw your marker, he'd honk the horn, which was your cue to come out and get onboard!

Public transportation no longer exists, but one way for visitors to get around is on one of the many site-seeing tours. I did a half-day excursion with the Moorea Explorer, which included visits to a fruit juice factory, the tiki village, an old ceremonial site and several photo stops.

The first of these involved a spectacular drive high up into the interior to the Belvedere Lookout. From this vantage point you could see Moorea's lush volcanic peaks as well as Opunohu Bay and Cook's Bay.

About a quarter of the way down the hill, our bus turned off into a heavily wooded area, the site of a 1,000-year-old marae (an open air temple) called Tetiiroa. Human sacrifices once took place on an altar inside this volcanic stone enclosure.

But before our guide would let us out of the bus to explore, she issued a warning. We could not touch the temple stones, which represent the spirits of people who lived on the island, nor should we touch the tree within its confines (taboo).

Human sacrifice was the preserve of men and so only male visitors will be allowed inside the temple -- but only if they remain silent so as not to disturb the spirits.

The island of Moorea whose name means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian.

Some of the other maraes on the island have disappeared over the years. In the village of Papetoai, an octagonal Protestant church has replaced a temple, while further east, a two-storey hotel constructed on the site of a former marae (without the knowledge of local elders) now sits vacant.

At the Tiki Village, our next stop, we watch a tattoo artist at work, see local black pearls fashioned into jewelry and artisans sculpting tikis (stone gods). In one small gallery, filled with Gauguin reproductions, a man seated on a bench, plays a nose flute.

We never do see any lizards. Moorea means "yellow lizard" in the Tahitian language, and was so named, apparently, because the shape of the island resembles the reptile's footprint.

It seems most of the wildlife is back at my hotel -- the Intercontinental Resort -- where the lagoon teems with tropical fish, and dozens of crabs scurry in and out of earthen holes between the bungalows.

Follow the meandering paths on this two-hectare estate and eventually you'll arrive at a protected habitat for three species of turtles.

The resort is also home to the Moorea Dolphin Center, where humans can pay to commune with the animals or stand back and watch for free as they leap several metres up into the air.