A composite perpendicular magnetic recording disk has two distinct magnetic layers formed on the disk substrate, each with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, that are strongly exchange coupled perpendicularly to each other across their interface. The first layer is a CoCr granular layer formed on a growth-enhancing sublayer, such as titanium, so as to have strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The second layer is a continuous layer, preferably a continuous multilayer of Co/Pt or Co/Pd palladium formed on top of the granular layer. An interface layer, such as a layer of platinum or palladium, depending on whether the top multilayer is Co/Pt or Co/Pd, respectively, may be located between the two layers to enhance the growth of the continuous multilayer.