Moorea is very close to Tahiti, only a 20 minute ferry ride. Its name means "yellow lizard", and I did see a yellow gecko in the hostel. Moorea is smaller and MUCH less busy than Tahiti, despite having a lot of tourists. I found good snorkeling here and some big shells (that I had to throw back) and had the best lagoon tour of the three that I took.
Melville came here after his sojourn in the Marquesas, with his pal Dr. Long Ghost, right at the moment when the French were starting their annexation. They tried (and mostly failed) to get jobs with the famous Queen Pomare I, and had quite some adventures, as related in his second book "Omoo".