According to SecretFlying you can fly from San Francisco to Colombo, Sri Lanka for as low as $394 round-trip on China Eastern. Dates look pretty spotty, but this is a great chance to visit the Maldives for the price of a domestic flight.

SecretFlying found the following available dates in September and October:

“Example dates:

7th-13th Sep
19th Sep – 4th Oct
19th Sep – 11th Oct
27th Sep – 6th Oct
27th Sep – 11th Oct
27th Sep – 13th Oct”

Colombo

It looks like if you want to go to Male, Maldives from Colombo, you can book a separate ticket for $170 r/t. There are so many great hotel properties in the Maldives that make the 24 hours of travel seem worth it.

I recommend booking through Orbitz or Expedia to ensure you can cancel within 24 hours. This may be a mistake fare, so hold off on hotel bookings until you have been ticketed.