rsync -av --exclude=CVS <src> <dst>
tar -cpf - --exclude=CVS directory | sh -c 'cd /wherever/it/goes && tar -xpf -'
Modify the right-hand tar's options to -xvpf if you'd like to see what's going on.
tar
-xvpf
Why not approach it from a slightly different angle and check out the files from CVS using the export command.
This'll give you the directories without any of the CVS artifacts.